When North Carolina transplant Marshall Stewart found himself in the Bootheel of Missouri at a dinner being held in the garage of a tractor dealership eating from a big pot of chicken and dumplings, he knew he was “knee deep in his own people.”
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MU’s Vice Chancellor for Extension and Engagement has been a year at the job now. His first step after assuming office in August of last year was to take a Listen and Learn Tour in order to assess the needs of the state’s citizens.
He has held about 30 of these community conservations across the state. He spoke to a crowd of between 70 and 80 people on Friday, Aug. 4, at the Jamesport Fire and Rescue Building to discuss what he’d learned.
The effort has been three-pronged:
“An independent review was recently taken to get a broad-based look at MU Extension and its impact,” Dr. Stewart said. “That review found that of the $84 million invested in a year, MU Extension generated $945 million in Missouri.”
He said he would like to be able to figure the impact at the county level next year.
TEConomy’s report also shows that MU Extension’s annual reach impacts more than 1.3 million Missourians in local programs. According to the release, the MU Extension website had 2.8 million unique visitors who downloaded 14.5 million publications.
After-school programs and 4-H Youth Development clubs managed by MU Extensions serve more than 230,000 kids, according to the report.
Dr. Stewart said that on his “listen and learn” tour he has traveled widely throughout Missouri to “places most people don’t know existed.”
“I’ve learned that there are three leading challenges for Missouri — the economy, education, and health care,” he said.
Dr. Stewart emphasized the need to “build our future together” which is the theme of the summit. This means developing a collaboration and collusion of knowledge across the state.
“In my travels I’ve learned of work being done in a school or college in one part of the state, with no idea similar work was being done in another part of the state,” he said. “We need to stop working in these silos and begin to interconnect. Only then can people get the big picture and their efforts have a broader impact.”
Not only did Dr. Stewart hope to pull information from all across the state, but also overarch the eight states bordering Missouri.
The Northwest Extension Region and the Daviess County Extension Center hosted the meeting of the University of Missouri Extension administrators. Dr. Stewart said the question for county extension is how best to serve its varied clientele.
The group took a morning tour to three Jamesport businesses, two Amish farms of Chris Detweiler and Noah Kramer, and the Grabers Greenhouse.
Dr. Stewart said these three local businesses represent “high touch” businesses. On the other hand, there are enormously big agriculture producers in the area who don’t need high touch, but do need high tech.
“The challenge locally will be how best to balance and deliver services to these different types of needs,” he said.
Dr. Stewart said the link between MU and the state of Missouri is crucial.
He noted that Missourians love the “local touch” and to “feel ownership” and that he was committed to focusing on “All Things Missouri” or “Missouri First.” He was, he said, after all, paid by Missouri taxes.
“If you don’t take care of Missouri, Missouri won’t take care of you,” he said.
Final plans of the needs assessment call for implementation of a strategic plan for MU Extension to be underway in time for the 2017 MU Extension Summit.
“It’s a new day for Missouri,” Dr. Stewart said. “If we can move ahead in a spirit of collaboration and cooperation, then Missouri has tremendous potential.”
Dr. Stewart ended by telling the audience about booking a room in the one and only hotel in Warsaw. A sign on the counter read “Do not clean fish in your room.”
The North Carolina native said he felt truly at home.