CORE Gives Entrepreneurship a Boost in Rural Oregon

Mike Dewbré turned to CORE partner, the Umpqua Community Development Corporation for assistance in writing a business plan and securing a loan.

Mike Dewbré wanted to buy a Roto-Rooter franchise in Douglas County, Oregon and needed a loan, but also needed help writing a business plan. Lindy Simmons and Judy Lynch wanted to open a gift shop in Christmas Valley, Oregon, but needed business training. Katie McNeil is an accomplished baker, but realized that success for her home baking business would require business training and timely advice.

All three of these entrepreneurs, along with many others in Oregon, are receiving help through the Rural Development Initiative's project Connecting Oregon for Rural Entrepreneurship (CORE). Working with a seamless network of more than 20 Oregon business organization partners, CORE has been able to bring assistance to rural entrepreneurs. Rural Development Initiative's CORE project is one of six collaboratives awarded three-year, W.K. Kellogg Foundation 75th Anniversary Entrepreneurship Development Systems (EDS) grants in 2005 to stimulate entrepreneurship across rural America. Each of the six were awarded $2 million.

When Mike Dewbré, needed help writing a business plan to buy the Rotor-Rooter franchise, his bank suggested he visit Umpqua Community Development Corporation (UCDC), one of CORE's partner business organizations. UCDC's assistance helped him write a good business plan and secure his loan to buy the Roto-Rooter franchise.

Dewbré started with one van and one machine. In the first year, he increased the business seven-fold. That growth allowed him to begin adding essential tools: another van, four power snakes, a pumper truck, one jetter and a color camera system.

He's thankful for UCDC's planning assistance. “We need more public awareness of the assistance programs,” says Dewbré.

Before Lindy Simmons and Judy Lynch opened Forever Christmas Gifts and More in May 2006, they knew they needed help, but also knew they shared more than being part of the Central Oregon Hay Growers Association. Lynch had experience selling her own holiday and home decor products. Simmons had owned a fabric business catering to quilters in the area.

They wanted to have a gift shop that was tasteful and affordable as well as accessible to the whole community.

Lake County Development Corporation was instrumental in helping Lynch and Simmons look at the small community marketplace and see the business opportunities that existed. This training also helped them develop the confidence to establish a new business in a rural climate.

During several training sessions they learned additional business basics, such as how to make a company viable, what structure keeps it sustained, and how to help it grow. “There was and is so much to learn,” says Lynch. For example, one of their challenges was finding gift items that catered to their entire customer base. “Through the training we were able to discern between age, gender and income differences, which enabled us to solve the difficulty,” says Lynch.

Katie McNeil holds a loaf of bread from her business, Pacific Sourdough. She has taken advantage of class offerings at the Small Business Development Center at Oregon Coast Community College.

Katie McNeil began a baking business about 15 years ago, from her home in Waldport, Oregon, while working as the chef at Le Serre restaurant in Yachats, Oregon. What began as a part-time passion became full time in 1994.

Her business, Pacific Sourdough, began at the Newport Farmers' Market. Still active as a vendor there, she says half her sales each year come from there and the other half from selling wholesale to grocery stores, restaurants, and coffee shops.

Success as a baker has to start in the kitchen, but success as a business entrepreneur comes from another place. Over the years, McNeil has sought out the advice and class offerings at the Small Business Development Center at Oregon Coast Community College. Her learning turned one sort of dough into another, called profit. And, her willingness to share her knowledge with other entrepreneurs, at the farmers' market and as an advisor to CORE, won McNeil the “Home-based Business of the Year” from the Small Business Association for Oregon in 2005.

“It's obvious that we can't depend on tourism entirely,” McNeil says. Her recent efforts connected a farmers' market vendor with the Food Innovation Center, in Portland, Oregon, that helped take the vendor's salad dressing idea to market. CORE also helps local non-profit organizations have more economic impact. McNeil says Samaritan House is a good example of “social entrepreneurship” at work. The organization, primarily in service for homeless people, has branched into entrepreneurial activities such as recycling, refurbishing, retail sales, and job training.

For more information about the Rural Development Initiative and CORE visit www.rdiinc.org. For information on the Kellogg Foundation's 75th Anniversary EDS project visit www.wkkf.org/default.aspx?tabid=75&CID=357&NID=61&LanguageID=0.

Michigan Partnership Connects Local Growers
with Buyers

A Michigan partnership is helping to break down the marketing barriers keeping farmers from marketing to local buyers.

Chef Joe Pagano wants to use local fruits and vegetables in his Taste of the Gardens Café in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Now, thanks to assistance from a partnership formed by Michigan Food & Farming Systems (MIFFS); Originz, LLC; and Morse Marketing Connections, LLC, that day is closer.

The challenge for restaurants, such as Pagano's, is finding distributors that can deliver local products quickly to restaurants and institutions. The partnership of organizations is dedicated to solving that problem by strengthening the linkages between farmers and with markets. The Fremont Cooperative, a supply coop interested in promoting its member's fresh produce marketing success, was awarded a state of Michigan grant in October 2006 to fund the partnership work.

“We listened to small- and medium-scale growers to learn more about the barriers of getting their produce into food service enterprises, and they told us their number-one barrier is lack of relationship with the buyer,” says Marty Gerencer, marketing consultant on the project. “And as we sat with buyers, they told us their number-one barrier is lack of relationship with the grower.”

“So we brought growers and buyers to the same table to talk about challenges and opportunities, ways to work together and ways to meet each others expectations. The models and mechanisms for moving product from a small growers' field to the food service enterprise are in existence,” says Joe Colyn of Originz, LLC, supply-chain consultant on the project. “In many cases, we just needed to identify the gaps and connect those missing parts.”

To help the Taste of the Gardens Café, says Gerencer, “we searched for a medium-size distributor who works with a network of growers to supply fruits and vegetables and many other seasonal products to small- and medium-size enterprises.”

Pagano says several details need to be worked out, but lack of a reliable supply is no longer an issue.

“I'm interested in using local foods because of the freshness,” says Pagano. “We can use just about any local fruits and vegetables.” He has already had experience using local produce in the café, located in the Frederick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, which has a farm garden. And, Pagano is utilizing as much produce from that garden as they will give him.

While MIFFS works to connect local growers and buyers in Michigan, the Henry A. Wallace Center at Winrock International, located in Arlington, Virginia, is developing a National Supply Chain Capacity Building Network from state and regional supply chain models to share learning and build strategies for, among other objectives, less duplication of effort among partners and growers as well as funding entities. John Fisk, director at Wallace Center, is a national partner and advisor to this work.

MIFFS' purpose is to advance and sustain food and farming systems in which agricultural productivity, environmental stewardship, and profitability reinforce each other for the benefit of Michigan's rural and urban communities. It is supported by grants from federal USDA agencies, the Wallace Center and W.K. Kellogg Foundation. For more information on MIFFS and its programs, visit www.miffs.org. To learn more about the Food and Society initiative visit www.wkkf.org/default.aspx?tabid=75&CID=19&NID=61&LanguageID=0.

The Wallace Center is organized around four initiatives tackling issues ranging from community food systems to value-added agriculture and enterprise development to direct marketing and more. Programmatic initiatives are: Developing Regional Models for Market-Based Solutions in the Food System, Building Capacity for Sustainable Food & Farming Systems and Enterprise, Facilitating Expansion of Direct Market Options, and Informing Public Policy. You can read about these and other projects at www.winrock.org/wallace.

Arkansas Group Helps Rural Residents Start Their Own Businesses

Emma Agnew (left) is shown here with Gloria Dickerson, Mid South Delta Initiative (MSDI) Program Director. Agnew leads the Beacons and Bridges Business Development Initiative.

You want to go into business for yourself. You know how to do the work – whether it be providing childcare or doing masonry or carpentry work – but you don't have much money in the bank or business training. What do you do?

If you live near Jonesboro, Arkansas, you can turn to Beacons and Bridges and its Business Development Initiative. There, Emma Agnew leads the Initiative's entrepreneurial training and development program, which includes offering two, 12-week business training courses each year – along with ongoing advice and counsel to low-income individuals seeking to start or improve their small businesses.

The training courses use the Kaufmann Foundation's Entrepreneurial Fast Track curriculum in classes conducted in weekly evening sessions. Students are taught by certified instructors how to plan and run a business, and must write a feasibility study for the business they are planning to start. Outside speakers from the community, to include bankers, accountants, attorneys, and marketing professionals, are brought in to speak to the classes.

Class size runs around 10 students each, and valuable networking develops among class members, notes Agnew. The Enterprise Corporation of the Delta (ECD) supports the program, and as a result low-income students need only pay a $100 fee upfront and receive $50 worth of books. Upon successful completion of the course, they receive $50 back.

More than 35 individuals have successfully completed the course, says Agnew. Some have since started businesses including providing child daycare services, a tailoring and alternations business, food catering, janitorial service, and opening a restaurant. Some learned from the course that they weren't yet ready to start their own business, and the course was valuable to them as well, adds Agnew.

One of the graduates had a tailoring and alternation company, but was struggling with the financial management side of the business. “The course helped her learn to handle not only the tailoring but also the management, pricing, and marketing,” says Agnew.

She would like to see Beacons and Bridges build on its business training and counseling by starting a small-business incubator. Such an incubator could provide offices or work areas for small businesses not suitable to be run out of a home. This business would be clustered near advisory staff and they could share expenses such as the cost of the building.

Beacons and Bridges and the Enterprise Corporation of the Delta are assisted by W.K. Kellogg Foundation Mid South Delta Initiative (MSDI) grants. For more information visit www.beaconsandbridges.com, and www.msdi.org.

Focus New Farm Bill on Entrepreneurship Development

“The Rural Development Title of the 2007 Farm Bill should focus on entrepreneurial development and asset-and-wealth-building for rural people and communities.” That's the recommendation of the Farm and Food Policy Project (FFPP), an alliance of more than 400 rural, conservation, family farm, faith-based, public health, and other organizations.

FFPP elaborates on its recommendation in the declaration paper, Seeking Balance in U.S. Farm and Food Policy, released in January 2007. The paper notes that establishing policies that encourage entrepreneurship benefits both rural communities and agriculture.

Encouraging entrepreneurship benefits rural communities because, as Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City notes, “Entrepreneurs add jobs, raise incomes, create wealth, improve the quality of life of citizens and help rural communities operate in the global economy.” A commitment to rural asset- and wealth-building strategies leads to stronger individuals, families and communities.

Encouraging entrepreneurship also benefits agriculture and farming as rural communities provide a secure economic foundation for farms and the food system. Rural communities that encourage innovation and entrepreneurship retain their own young people and attract new workers by creating attractive, livable places with top-notch schools, health care centers, and employment opportunities.

Retaining and attracting people in rural communities – especially those who can provide specialized services – is essential for farmers and others who want to get into value-added enterprises. This includes the growing opportunities for farmers to link with nearby urban areas to supply value-added food products, and for opportunities in farmer-owned renewable energy production.

“To ensure a viable agricultural system for generations to come,” notes the report, “we must retain and attract rural residents, attack the root causes of rural poverty, and address the continuing and growing economic disparity between rural and urban areas of the nation." For more information about the Farm and Food Policy Project visit www.farmandfoodproject.org.

News Briefs

Food and Fitness Community Grantees Announced

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation announced on April 19, 2007, that it was awarding $4.5 million in Food and Fitness Community grants to nine projects nationwide that will participate in an effort to help communities embrace active living and healthy eating.

Each community group will receive a two-year, $500,000 grant to create a community action plan that maps out ways the community can support healthy children, help youth and families have access to local healthy food, and provide safe spaces and structures for physical activity and play.

“The problems of obesity, poor nutrition and physical inactivity present a major threat to the well-being of our children and our country,” said Sterling K. Speirn, president and chief executive officer of the Kellogg Foundation.

“An incredible number of people and organizations are working hard to attack this issue. What the Kellogg Foundation brings to the table is its long and deep relationships with community, state, and national food networks and farmers, and our interest in public health,” he said. “Our aim is to seize the energy and interest that already exists in communities and help them learn and grow new approaches.”

The grantees receiving funding are located in a variety of rural and urban communities: Boston, Massachusetts.; Detroit, Michigan; Holyoke, Massachusetts; New York, New York; five counties in Northeast Iowa; Oakland, California; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Seattle, Washington; and Sells, Arizona (specifically, the Tohono O'odham Native American reservation). During the two-year planning process, communities will receive support and technical assistance for communication, policy, and evaluation. Each of the communities will then be eligible for potential implementation funding for up to eight years.

“The effects of poor diet and physical inactivity are well-documented,” said Linda Jo Doctor, Kellogg Foundation program director in Health. “But there's more to the obesity story than personal behavior. What if your playgrounds aren't safe? What if your local market doesn't carry fresh fruits and vegetables? This initiative will help people in communities think together more about how they want to support kids and families, and address issues such as physical activities in schools, safety in public spaces, creating community gardens, having markets for affordable local and regionally grown foods, and working with local planning boards to create more pathways for walkers and bicyclists.”

“We are looking to solutions from communities that are ready to take this on in a holistic manner,” said Gail Imig, Kellogg Foundation program director in Food Systems. “We are already seeing a profusion of creative and caring ideas from people who want healthier communities. We'll look to these communities to not only inspire one another, but also ignite and energize other communities across the country.”

The $4.5 million in community grants is part of an initial $18 million in funding earmarked for this effort by the Kellogg Foundation.

These community grants will support communities where schools, hospitals, government/public health agencies, nonprofits, neighborhood groups, businesses, churches, and recreational facilities work together to become places where youth and families are encouraged to eat healthy and engage in physical activity. In keeping with the Foundation's interest in engaging people with diverse cultures, race, and ethnicity, several of the sites will specifically address the needs of African American, Hispanic, Native American, Asian American, and Pacific Islander populations.

The Foundation's effort is part of a nationwide Healthy Eating/Active Living Convergence Partnership, in which several food and health funders are working together to address physical activity and access to high-quality food in the context of the natural, built, social, political, and economic environment. Convening partners for the national convergence activities include the Kellogg Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the California Endowment and Nemours Health and Prevention Services.

The projects receiving funding are:

• Boston Collaborative, Boston, Massachusetts.
  Contact: Roger Swartz, (617) 534-4832
• Detroit Food and Fitness Collaborative, Detroit, Michigan.
  Contact: Geneva Williams, (313) 963-9722
• Holyoke Collaborative, Holyoke, Massachusetts.
  Contact: Daniel Ross, (413) 535-1789
• Partnership for Increasing Access to Healthy Food and Physical Activity for Children and Families in New York City, New York, New York. Contact: Kate MacKenzie, (212) 894-8078
• Northeast Iowa Food and Fitness Initiative, Northeast Iowa.
  Contact: Lora Friest, (563) 864-7112
• Oakland Food and Fitness Community Collaborative, Oakland, California. Contact: Suzan Bateson, (510) 636-4903
• Philadelphia Food and Fitness Alliance, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Contact: Vanessa Briggs, (215) 731-6108
• King County Food and Fitness Initiative, Seattle, Washington.
  Contact: Erin MacDougall, (206) 205-8572
• Tohono O'odham Food, Fitness, and Wellness Initiative, Sells, Arizona. Contact: Tristan Reader, (520) 383-4966

For more information on Food and Fitness visit www.wkkf.org/default.aspx?tabid=75&CID=383&NID=61&LanguageID=0.

John Fisk

Under Fisk's leadership, the Wallace Center is accelerating the development of sustainable and community-based food systems work over the next three and half years (from 2006 to 2009) through a partnership with W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Food and Society (FAS) initiative. Key objectives include deepening knowledge, developing models, and building capacity to serve nonprofit sector leaders and food and farming entrepreneurs. In addition, the Wallace Center is developing key indicators for sustainable and community-based food systems that will be useful to national, regional and local organizations.

Prior to joining the Wallace Center, Fisk was active in MIFFS, a non-profit organization working to improve the food and farming systems of Michigan economically, environmentally, and socially. A key MIFFS project is stimulating the purchase of locally and sustainably grown food by Michiganians, a collaborative project with the Michigan Department of Agriculture and several smaller NGO's. A second project works to redirect existing infrastructure and resources that are held in the public domain (university, agencies, etc.), to assist farmers and food entrepreneurs to move away from solely commodity production to create food-based businesses that bring more of the food dollar to farmers and more local and healthy products to consumers.

John Fisk
Director, H. A. Wallace Center
Winrock International
1621 North Kent Street, Suite 1200
Arlington, VA 22209-2134
Ph: 703.879 6556
Fax: 703.525.1744
JFisk@winrock.org

Editor's Note: John Fisk is one of many experts available as a resource to you. For a complete list of expert resources by subject area, please visit the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Web site at www.wkkf.org/fsrdexperts.

Announcements

Online Press Room for Media
Media are invited to visit the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's online press room, designed to assist in their coverage of food systems and rural development issues, and the Foundation's Food Systems and Rural Development (FSRD) programming area and its initiatives. The press room provides reporters access to the FSRD publications and resources; a photo library; an expert resource directory featuring farm and rural policy experts, farmers, educators, and community leaders; fact sheets; media kit; contact information for FSRD grantees by state; recent news stories; FSRD releases and newsletters. Access the press room at www.wkkf.org/fsrdpressroom.

South Central Florida Small Farm & Alternative Enterprise Workshop, April 27-28, 2007, Sarasota, Florida
The South Central Florida Small Farm and Alternative Enterprise Workshop is open to small and mid-size landowners considering growing crops and animals for profit or pleasure. It offers the latest information designed for both beginning and experienced farmers that describe niche enterprise opportunities for local markets such as farmers' markets and restaurants. Expert speakers will be talking about how to make an informed decision about starting a farming enterprise and about the available resources from the UF/IFAS/FAMU Small Farm and Alternative Enterprise Program. Planned activities will involve two days of presentations, demonstrations, farmer networking, a farmer/chef mixer, exhibits, and door prizes. For information visit http://sarasota.extension.ufl.edu/2007smallfarm.htm.

VisionWorks' Breakthrough Solutions Annual Conference, May 1, 2007, Little Rock, Arkansas
Inspired by the plight of rural communities and regions, this conference features examples of real-life strategies that lead to rural prosperity. Participants will learn ways to create economic opportunities for growth, how to leverage broadband and create jobs, how to market your community through an affinity program, and more. For information visit www.vworks.org/conference/default.htm.

Growing Your Community Food System from the Ground Up Workshop, May 19-20, 2007, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
"Growing Your Community Food System from the Ground Up," workshop by Growing Power, Inc., Growing Power Community Food Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Visit www.growingpower.org for information.

Black Environmental Thought: Land, Power and Sustainability Conference, May 22-24, Tuskegee, Alabama
The purpose of the Black Environmental Thought: Land, Power and Sustainability conference is to develop more concrete thinking and identification with Black ecological thought and its applications to African American farming, sustainable agriculture, and professional development opportunities. The goal of the conference will be to move innovation in Black sustainable agriculture forward and contribute to overall diversity of thought in sustainable agriculture. The conference is sponsored by Southern Region SARE, The Federation of Southern Cooperatives, The AfroEco Group, Tuskegee University, Fort Valley State University, and the University of Georgia. For more information visit www.blackenvirothought.org.

Entrepreneurial Sustainable Agriculture Training, May 29, 2007, Logan, Utah
An Entrepreneurial Sustainable Agriculture Training program is scheduled for Tuesday, May 29, 2007, on the Utah State University campus, Logan, Utah. This regional training is designed to provide resources, including training curriculum and materials, to training teams comprised of one agricultural producer and one service provider. The training will cover such topics as food safety and processing; regulatory issues; labeling; marketing opportunities in local markets; organic production and marketing; business planning; diversified sales strategies; new venture creation; retail and Internet marketing; farm bill programs and other funding sources for new marketing ventures and small business development. The training program is being offered by the Western Rural Development Center, in conjunction with its project partners, and the generous funding of WSARE. Detailed information is available on the training program's Web pages at http://extension.usu.edu/wrdc/wsare_ag_trng_main.cfm.

Southern Workforce Summit, June 3-5, 2007, St. Louis, Missouri
The Southern Workforce Summit will explore strategies for building a competitive, entrepreneurial workforce to support the region's economic development initiatives in high-wage, high-growth industries and promote a greater quality of life for all Southerners. Attending will be a diverse collection of national and regional leaders to discuss strategies for creating a culture of lifelong learning and entrepreneurship in which workers consistently update their skills; encouraging workers to be more innovative; linking workforce-training initiatives to economic development initiatives; and in building industry-education alliances with higher education and emerging and existing industries. For more information, or to register, visit www.southern.org/regform.shtml.

E2 Energizing Entrepreneurship in Rural America institute,
June 5-8, 2007, Nebraska City, Nebraska
“E2 Energizing Entrepreneurship in Rural America” institute will be held June 5-8, 2007, at Nebraska City, Nebraska. This institute promotes a thorough understanding of entrepreneurship as a vital rural economic development strategy. Participants will learn what it takes to promote entrepreneurial action back home in their communities. Economic developers, practitioners, educators and rural community leaders who attend will take home the tools and knowledge to develop a pro-active strategy to energize entrepreneurs. The program is presented by the RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship and the Heartland Center for Leadership Development. For information visit www.heartlandcenter.info/documents/e2RegistrationBrochure.pdf, or call (800) 927-1115.

Sharing Indigenous Wisdom: An International Dialogue on Sustainable Development Conference, June 11-15, 2007,
Green Bay, Wisconsin
The second "Sharing Indigenous Wisdom: An International Dialogue on Sustainable Development Conference" is focused this year on the Natural Environment foundational element in the Menominee model of sustainable development. The conference is designed to bring together scholars and practitioners committed to the concepts of sustainable development. A forum will be created that encourages dialogue, learning, solidarity and cross-fertilization of ideas. The conference is being hosted by College of Menominee Nation's Sustainable Development Institute at the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center, Green Bay, Wisconsin, June 11-15, 2007. For more information visit www.sharingindigenouswisdom.org/.

Rethinking School Lunch Seminar, June 20–21, 2007,
Berkeley, California
CEL Seminar: Rethinking School Lunch. Janet Brown, Ann M. Evans, and a panel of expert practitioners lead this exploration of food service and curriculum innovation to place nutritious school meals at the center of the learning experience. Seminar sessions will be held 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day at the Center for Ecoliteracy, 2528 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, California. Registration is limited and early registration is encouraged. For more information visit www.ecoliteracy.org/seminars/rsl-seminar.html.

The Second National Conference on Facilitating Sustainable Agriculture Education, July 11-14, 2007, Ithaca, New York
The 2nd National Conference on Facilitating Sustainable Agriculture Education is an exciting opportunity to facilitate a cross-disciplinary dialogue on learning and teaching in sustainable agriculture at colleges and universities in the United States. It is expected to draw a diverse gathering of faculty, staff, undergraduate and graduate students, administrators, extension educators, farmers, and food system practitioners who are active or interested in sustainable agriculture education at institutions of post-secondary learning. For more information visit www.hort.cornell.edu/SustAgEd.

We want to hear from you! If you have information about an upcoming seminar, conference or just have great news you want to share with our readers, we want to know.

All announcements must be timely and relevant. To submit an announcement, simply send an e-mail to the editor at routesofchange@wkkf.org.

The newsletter editor has the authority to edit the announcements and decide which announcements get posted.

If you have any comments or questions about the e-newsletter, or if you would like more information about the Kellogg Foundation, e-mail us at routesofchange@wkkf.org

W.K. Kellogg Foundation
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Battle Creek, MI 49017-4058