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PORTLAND - The Food Innovation Center, a collaborative program of Oregon State University and the Oregon Department of Agriculture aimed at advancing Northwest foods, will host a Food Business Incubator Network Conference in Portland, May 13-15.

The FoodBIN conference will feature practical presentations about food business incubator operations and forecasts about trends in the food industry that will have an impact on micro-enterprise and small businesses involved in food production, distribution and packaging.

Speakers include Natalie Schoch, manager of knowledge management for the Kellogg Company; Ron Tanner, director of education initiatives for the National Association for Specialty Food Trade; June Holley, executive director of ACEnet; and Cameron Wold, a nationally recognized authority on shared-use kitchens.

A number of presentations will be made by business owners who have worked with FoodBIN incubators and by retailers who have worked with food entrepreneurs. The program will include opportunities for networking discussions among conferees that are starting or expanding Food Business Incubators.

Many food business incubators have formed over the past 10 years to help entrepreneurs in urban and rural communities develop, produce and distribute new food products. Food business incubators have resulted in new products for consumers, new jobs for economically depressed communities and new markets for farmers, fishers and ranchers.

"Food business incubators have special requirements that distinguish them from other technology and business incubators," said John Henry Wells, superintendent of the Food Innovation Center. "They must meet high standards for safety and public health set by government regulators and must also attend to demands of well-established and varied retail and food consumption markets. Entrepreneurs benefit from using incubators to help them launch and build their businesses."

The center is located in Portland at 1207 N.W. Naito Parkway. To register for the conference, go online at http://fic.oregonstate.edu. For information about the program, contact Carol Coren, 503-872-6657 or email carol.coren@oregonstate.edu.