Northern California Academy of Leadership Class Returns to Colusa

Premier Mushroom Inc. CEO John Ashbaugh (3rd from left) welcomes NorCAL candidates to
Premier Mushroom's farm for a tour.

In 2014 the Northern California Academy of Leadership (NorCAL) launched its inaugural program for participants from a wide variety of business professions. The successful program is once again being offered this year.

A program of Innovate North State and sponsored by Wells Fargo Bank, NorCAL provides a ten-month program designed for middle and upper management level business leaders.

On February 23 and 24, NorCAL students were hosted by Premier Mushroom Inc. at the Colusa Industrial Properties conference room. The seminar components included on day one were Strength Finders with Peggy Jennings-Severe, Growing Our Local Economies with Jon Gregory, and Bio-Consortia with Marcus Meadows-Smith..

On Tuesday Larry Lane presented “Life/Work Balance,” and startup ag companies California Safe Soil (Mark Bauer) and MOasis (Steve Hartmeier) shared their company’s journey. Premier sustainability coordinator Kevin Foley shared the farm’s efforts in increased sustainability and introduced CEO John Ashbaugh who discussed the growth of Premier Mushroom Inc. and then led the class on a tour of the mushroom farm.

“It is a tremendous honor to have one of the premier banking institutions in the United States continue as the Leadership Academy Title Sponsor and make such a meaningful commitment,” stated Jon Gregory, Managing Director of Innovate North State.

Larry Lane, NorCAL Program Director stated, “we are tremendously excited to see the support from Wells Fargo and their enthusiasm for this unique leadership development program. We are also very grateful for our seminar sponsors like Premier Mushroom, for providing meeting rooms and lunches for the class. NorCAL is a cooperative effort of business leaders throughout the north state providing presenters, meeting rooms and financial support. It is an investment in the future economy of the “530” region.