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Trainings & Workshops for Food & Farm Entrepreneurs

Dig deeper with expert-led sessions customized for the food and farm industry. Learn strategies and actionable tips to drive your business forward.

See Featured Trainings

Explore Featured Trainings

Expand your expertise with trainings designed specifically for food and farm businesses.

Loan Preparation for New and Beginning Farmers

Is the idea of taking out a loan for your new farm business a bit overwhelming? Loans are an important tool for growing any business and if approached with the right groundwork, can be a beneficial part of your business development.

This webinar series provides new and beginning farmers with the tools they need to secure a loan. Four sessions spotlight representatives from three popular agricultural lenders.

Meet The Facilitators

Florencia Colella, Michigan State University: As a Farm Business Management Educator with Michigan State University Extension, Colella’s goal is to help agribusinesses and policy makers make informed decisions through the collection, management, and dissemination of trustworthy, localized data and information. Her main areas of focus are recordkeeping, tax planning, business analysis, impact evaluation, development, food chains, marketing, information technologies applied to management, and creativity and leadership in agribusinesses, including the role of minorities in farm ownership and operation.

Mary Donnell, Capital Impact Partners: Donnell has extensive experience in the value-added produce and hydroponic greenhouse industries, as well as in economic development building communities of opportunity.

Jae Gerhart, MSU Extension & Product Center: Gerhart’s goal is to help local farmers make more transactions. She works primarily with first-generation specialty crop growers who seek to expand their sales from direct-to-consumer into wholesale markets, providing education, networking, and scale-appropriate market development for farmers in and around Washtenaw County.

Jinnifer Ortquist, MSU Extension: Ortquist is a Senior Extension Educator within the MSU Extension Financial and Homeownership Education Statewide Team. She is a HUD Certified Housing Counselor and holds numerous content certifications through NeighborWorks Center for Homeownership Education and Counseling.

Jamie Rahrig, MSU Center for Regional Food Systems & Product Center: Rahrig manages the Michigan Good Food Fund at Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems and is an Innovation Counselor with the MSU Product Center and MSU Extension. In her role, Rahrig provides business coaching to good food businesses statewide from farm to fork, with a goal of providing equitable access to healthy and affordable food.

Sessions

Watch the session by GreenStone Farm Credit Services

Watch the session by Northern Initiatives

Watch the session by USDA Farm Service Agency

Watch The Launch Session

Food Hub Zoning and Michigan Growth Initiative Webinar

The Michigan Food Hub Learning and Innovation Network recently hosted a webinar focusing on zoning and land use issues pertinent to identifying and developing sites for food hubs. The latter segment of the presentation featured an overview of Michigan's $3 million Strategic Growth Initiative, which aims to bolster the state’s food processing industry. This initiative is coordinated by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Meet The Facilitators

Rich Pirog, former director at the Center for Regional Food Systems (CRFS) at Michigan State University, played a pivotal role in designing and launching CRFS during its transition from the C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Agriculture. Pirog’s expertise encompasses local foods, food hubs, food system networks, economic impact of local foods, and food value chains. His work is published in a variety of U.S. publications.