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"It's time to make a difference for our future."
-Loretta Cockrun
Mission Statement
The Foram Group Charitable Foundation is dedicated to finding, encouraging, and providing financial or technical support to individuals and organizations that are experimenting with “controlled environment” farming methods such as aquaponics and vertical farming.
Our Story
Where we are from - Foram Group, Inc was founded in 1978 to provide fiduciary real estate services to high net worth individuals and families who invested or wished to invest in large farm, ranch, or timber properties in the Southeastern United States. Driven by a “sustainable philosophy” in agriculture, we have grown our clients’ rural portfolios to over 20,000 acres of farm, timberland, and master-planned communities and have matured into other areas of interest including vertical development and most recently “Controlled Environment” Farming. We developed and managed the Brickell World Plaza office building in Miami, Florida and The Bartram Apartments in Gainesville, Florida. Both LEED Certified developments. Now, we are incorporating this same “sustainable philosophy” into “controlled environment” farming.
Where we are going - With our background in agriculture and focus on cutting edge infrastructure we have created the Foram Group Charitable Foundation to help foster and accelerate the development and implementation of "controlled environment" farming. This method of farming is the best way to tackle the waste and inefficiencies of our current food production systems. We also seek to educate individuals about this method of farming to garner further interest in its development and implementation.
How we are going to get there - We support individuals and organizations that share our goals via financial and/or technical support. Through this system, we will elevate novel ideas that have the potential to make "controlled farming" economically viable.
Our Ventures
In pursuant of our goal to create an economically viable "controlled farming” system, Foram is investing in small farmers with big ideas who have the potential to change the game of food production.
Georgia Southern University
Foram Group Charitable Foundation is working in partnership with Georgia Southern University to deliver the next generation in food production to the mass market. With Foram Group Charitable Foundation’s financial support and Georgia Southern's faculty and facilities; a state of the art solar powered aquaponics system will be built on the university campus. The Foram Sustainable Aquaculture Center will allow research to be conducted by faculty and students in an interdisciplinary course for the advancement of sustainable aquaculture.
Our Team
Loretta Cockrum
President
Loretta H. Cockrum founded Foram Group in 1978 as a farm and ranch management company. After 33 years of success in agricultural and commercial real estate management and development, Loretta turned her focus toward funding new and innovative methods of food production. In 2011, the Foram Group Charitable Foundation was founded by Ms. Cockrum with the sole mission of finding and fostering individuals and organizations involved in "controlled farming.”
Travis Stringer
Director
Travis Stringer began work as a financial analyst in the Los Angeles US headquarters for Westfield, an international developer, owner, and manager of high-end shopping malls. In November of 2014, He joined Foram Group, Inc. as a principal and president
William Urban
Director & Secretary
Mr. Urban has lead a distinguished career in public accounting, including several years as head of the audit department of a national publicly traded accounting firm. He has 33 years of experience in the real estate, wholesale/retail, transportation, education, banking, and nonprofit industries. Mr. Urban's familiarity with the governance and reporting practices of both for-profit and nonprofit organizations is invaluable to the Foundation.
Christopher Senneff
Director and IT/R&D
Mr. Senneff has a keen interest in the mission of the Foundation Coupled with his knowledge of technology, his interest in the development of techniques and devices that deal with a sustainable future will rapidly advance the research and development efforts of the Foundation.
Contact Us
2602 Barnard Street, Savannah, GA 31401