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The winner and the runner-ups of 12th Contest Tournez-vous vers l'excellence! were announced on November 23, 2017 during the management seminar held by the Centre de référence en agriculture et agroalimentaire du Québec (CRAAQ).
Mme Virginie Lepage, of Ferme Olofée (Saint-Félicien, Lac-Saint-Jean), won the grand prize this year. She received a $5,000 bursary.
Virginie managed to establish great synergy upon her arrival as a manager in the family operation. This young multi-tasker is determined to maintain her leadership role at the business, specialized in oat production and seed cleaning operations. Her objectives for the coming years are to work at continuously improving her production costs along with developing new markets and new ways of doing things.
M. Jean-François Dion, of Aux Fruits de la colline (Sainte-Marie-de-Beauce, Chaudière-Appalaches) and Mme Stephanie Maynard, of the Quinn Farm (Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot, Montérégie) each received a $2,500 bursary.
Jean-François is a dynamic manager whose dream of acquiring his own market garden farm came true in 2010. Since then, he has been relentless in innovating and diversifying his products and services. With solid community involvement, he hopes to develop new partnerships with the producers in his region while focusing on his operation’s prosperity.
As a co-owner of the family market garden farm, Stephanie laid out her innovative vision. Due to her leadership, training in recreation and leisure and marketing skills, she developed the farm’s agro-tourism potential. What’s more, this dynamic entrepreneur began using social media to promote the operation, enabling it to position itself on the market while cutting expenses.
National press release (French)
Regional press release
Mme Audrey Bogemans, of the Ferme Bogemans (Saint-Sébastien, Montérégie) received a $1,500 bursary from the Fonds d’investissement pour la relève agricole (FIRA).
Congratulations to all the winners!
