Farm Wisconsin Discovery Center names executive director

Lauren Rose Hofland has been named executive director of the Farm Wisconsin Discovery Center, which is set to open July 28 in Manitowoc County.

Hofland was hired as the interim executive director in late 2017 and accepted the position of executive director earlier this month, the organization said in a press release.

Hofland most recently spent more than three years at Kohler Co. as their senior corporate giving analyst. She has 19 years of nonprofit and government experience, serving as executive director of Manitowoc County Asset Building Community, interim director of Manitowoc County United Way and executive director at the Cedarburg Cultural Center. She was also the assistant Manitowoc County executive under Dan Fischer and Bob Ziegelbauer.

The FWDC also announced that Angel Johanek will serve as director of marketing and development and Michelle Shambeau as floor manager and volunteer coordinator.

Johanek began her position May 2 and most recently was business engagement coordinator at The Chamber of Manitowoc County in Manitowoc, where she was employed for more than three years. 

Shambeau will begin her position June 18. She spent the last six years at Bay Tek Games in Pulaski as a human resource generalist. 

The Farm Wisconsin Discovery Center will be a state-of-the-art agricultural education center in Manitowoc County and is slated to open July 28. It will provide visitors with the opportunity to connect to the industry by better understanding where their food comes from and why agriculture is so important to them.

The center will feature 10,000 square feet of hands-on learning opportunities a birthing barn, where visitors may watch calves being born daily, and an opportunity to tour a local farm to learn about Wisconsin’s rich farm history.

For more information on the center visit buildwaec.org.