New staff joining Ohio Ag Net/OCJ – Ohio Ag Net

By Matt Reese

It has been a busy a busy summer at Ag Net Communications, Inc. for many reasons, including the exciting addition of three new team members.

We are welcoming back Joel Penhorwood. We are also welcoming two new marketing specialists to the team: Kristin Flowers from Henry County and Joe Everett from Shelby County.

“We have always been fortunate to have a great staff to help us in our mission to serve Ohio agriculture and we are really excited to welcome this group,” said Dale Minyo, general manager of Ag Net Communications. “They bring tremendous talent, experience and connections to the agricultural industry in the state to help keep us on top of our game.”  

Joel Penhorwood

Joel is returning to Ag Net Communications with a heavy emphasis on video production, but will work with radio, print, and the podcast as well. Joel started as an intern and worked for Ohio Ag Net as a radio news broadcaster from 2013 to 2019. He also worked extensively with video and print.

In 2019, Joel went to Select Sires Inc. to serve in the cooperative’s communications department as the multimedia communications specialist where he developed multi-channel digital marketing and communications for external and internal use. Joel is a graduate of The Ohio State University with a bachelor of science in agricultural communications. Joel serves his local and agricultural communities as a member of the Goshen Friends Church Discipleship team, as well as a 4-H advisor and Logan County Farm Bureau Trustee. Joel also works on his family’s row-crop and hay operation and enjoys spending his free time carving rocks with a hammer and chisel. He and his wife, Katie, recently welcomed their newborn son, Maverick.

Kristin Flowers

Kristin and her husband, Greg, and their three children, Griffin (6), Reagan (6), and Sailor (11 months), live in Henry County where they raise corn and soybeans for their row-crop operation and cut flowers and pumpkins for their u-pick farm. Kristin launched their u-pick operation, Talisman Farm, in 2018 and enjoys working with specialty crops. Kristin handles farm planning, planting, marketing, social media, design, and guest relations for the u-pick operation.

Kristin studied agricultural communications and animal science at The Ohio State University where she was active on the CFAES student council, agribusiness, and NAMA clubs. She graduated in 2014 and began working as a communication director for Luckey Farmer’s Cooperative. She then served as an organization director for Ohio Farm Bureau working with Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky, Seneca and Wood Counties before transitioning to her current role at Farm Bureau working in advertising. Kristin coordinates and cultivates advertising relationships for Farm Bureau’s leading print, digital, and radio media platforms on a local, regional, and national level. When they have a break from the farm, the Flowers family enjoys trail riding with their horses. 

Joe Everett

Joe works with his father, uncle and cousin on the family cash grain operation where they raise corn and soybeans where they farm around 4,000 acres in the Shelby County area. He is a key contributor to the farm’s marketing, crop inputs strategy, planting, and grain hauling. He also serves as one of the 2022 Between the Rows farmers.

Joe is the winner of the 2021 Ohio Farm Bureau Excellence in Ag Award. He has been a member of the Shelby County Farm Bureau since 2017 where he currently serves as the County president and has served as a delegate to the Ohio Farm Bureau annual meetings. In 2021 he was also a part of the state Policy Development Committee. He is a member of his rural electric cooperative board, Farmer Veteran Coalition, Sidney American Legion, Homegrown by Heroes, the Troy City Schools Lunch Buddies Program, and the Valley Church. 

Joe earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Bluffton University and served 6 years in the U.S. Navy where he deployed on two different tours and completed two Naval Schools in Electronics and High Frequency Communications. He and his wife, Casey, are the parents of two children Addison (3) and Brooks (1).