Free workshops for farms and food entrepreneurs looking to grow their businesses

UW-Madison Division of Extension Community Food Systems Program will provide no-cost virtual workshops for food entrepreneurs 10-11:15am every Monday from March 7 to April 4.

The session will cover topics such as:

• social media marketing

• best practices in personnel management

• aggregation and distribution

• culturally rooted food business development, and

• business development tools “The past two years have been especially difficult for many small food businesses. Extension has numerous resources to help new and growing food businesses address the challenges they face today. We look forward to connecting with food business owners to share tips, resources, and some great examples of food business innovations from across Wisconsin,” said Extension Community Food Systems Program Manager Lindsey Day Farnsworth.

March 7: Kristin Runge, Community Development Specialist with UW-Extension Kristin will illustrate how food entrepreneurs can utilize social media to enhance their businesses brand reach.

March 14: Jim Versweyveld, Extension Farm Management Outreach Specialist Jim will be focusing on topics such as farm leadership development, HR best practices, and employee safety and health. His talk will focus on how to hire and retain employees through improvements in management and workplace culture.

March 21: Panel on Local Food Businesses Doing Incubation, Aggregation, and Distribution Speakers include Brian Gronski from Farmer’s Best in Green Bay, Trevor Drake of the Central Rivers Farm Shed in Stevens Point, and Christine Ameigh of Christine’s Kitchen in Madison. Each business represents a distinct model of local food business incubation, aggregation, and/or distribution.

March 28: Philomena Kebec, Bad River Enterprise Center and member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Philomena brings prior experience in her role as a policy analyst and attorney with the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission and will discuss her role in supporting the development of a commercial fishing company.

April 4: Jess Spayde, Extension Community Development Educator in southwestern Wisconsin Jess will introduce participants to GrowthWheel, a business planning tool, to highlight key areas of business development including business concept, operational set up, organizational processes, and customer relationships.

All workshops are free to the public and will be hosted on Zoom. Registration for the event is available online at: https://go.wisc.edu/b8m3it