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Jane Eckert and her family created one of the most successful tourism farms in North America, and today, Jane helps members of the travel and agriculture industries tap into this fertile agritourism market. Among her most recent projects is www.RuralBounty.com, a unique website that allows the public to locate member agritourism farms and businesses anywhere in the U.S. and Canada. Jane was raised on her family’s apple orchard outside of St. Louis, Missouri, and pursued an executive career in corporate marketing for more than 15 years, working for such giants as Atlantic Richfield Oil Company. She then returned to the orchard as Vice President of Marketing for Eckert’s Country Store and Farms, and helped develop the farm into one of metropolitan St. Louis’ most popular tourist destinations, attracting over 400,000 guests annually.
In 2001, Jane created Eckert AgriMarketing, www.eckertagrimarketing.com, offering a variety of services to the tourism industry and agricultural operations. Jane has been featured in U.S.A. Today, Time and This Week in Agribusiness on RFD-TV, and interviewed for hundreds of newspapers, magazines and radio shows throughout the country. Jane was awarded the outstanding leadership award by the North American Farmers’ Direct Marketing Association in 2005, and elected to NAFDMA’s Hall of Fame in 2008. She also was awarded the Agri Tourism Excellence Achievement Award by the World Agri Tourism Day conference in Pune, India in May, 2008. She has been an active member of Convention and Visitors Bureaus both in Missouri and Illinois, and is past president of the St. Louis Attractions Association, the Belleville Tourism in Illinois and The North American Farmers’ Direct Marketing Association, and is an active member of the National Speakers Association.
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