Fingerlakespermaculture mailing list

[Rachel Firak <rfirak AT gmail.com>]

Plan your new farm business this winter! This January, Groundswell Center, CCE-Tompkins, and Alternatives FCU will team up to offer a winter Farm Business Planning Course for beginning farmers.

In collaboration with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County and Alternatives Federal Credit Union’s Business CENTS Program, Groundswell will offer an intensive Farm Business Planning Course in the winter of 2013. The class covers all major aspects of the farm business start-up process, including assessing your resources; legal and regulatory issues; production planning; marketing; financial feasibility, budgets and recordkeeping; and more. It is also appropriate for established farmers who want to improve their business planning and management skills.

Groundswell Farm Business Planning Course

Dates: January 10 - March 14, 2013 every Thursday evening for ten weeks Time: 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Location: Ithaca
Sliding Scale Tuition: $120 to $400

The course is designed for those who:

• Have at least a year of hands-on farming experience, OR have completed Groundswell’s Sustainable Farming Certificate Program;
• Have a clear business concept and expect to get started within a year, or are in already in business;
• Can fully commit to an intensive ten-week course with substantial outside research and homework.

The class will run for ten weeks, meeting every Thursday evening from 6-9pm from January 10 through March 14. Instructors are Monika Roth, Agriculture Program Leader and Matt LeRoux, Agriculture Marketing Specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County, and Leslie Ackerman, Director of the Business CENTS Program of Alternatives Federal Credit Union, along with area farmers and business owners whose stories illustrate the benefits of business planning and financial management skills.

"This is a rigorous course for the serious farming entrepreneur,” says Joanna Green, Director of the Groundswell Center for Local Food & Farming. “We are really pleased to be working with Monika, Matt and Leslie. They are very skilled teachers with a lot of practical knowledge to offer.”

Groundswell is committed to supporting a new generation of farmers that reflects the diversity of culture, color, and class in our community. Tuition for the class is on a sliding scale, from $120 – $400 depending on household income. It is NOT a requirement that you own land or have the financial resources to own land. This course will examine opportunities to lease land for farming in the Tompkins County area, and to secure financing through ag and commercial lenders or local “Slow Money” investors.

Farm Business Planning Course 2013

2013 Class Schedule and Topics

Week # Date Topics

1 Jan 10 Orientation, Setting Your Goals

2 Jan 17 Farm Business Basics

3 Jan 24 Production Planning

4 Jan 31 Marketing Basics & Strategy Development

5 Feb 7 Accounting Basics & Financial Feasibility

6 Feb 14 Financial Statements & Sources of Funds

7 Feb 21 Mechanics of Marketing

8 Feb 28 Loose Ends: Taxes, Legalities, and More

9 Mar 7 Final Projects

10 Mar 14 Final Projects

Online applications are now available. If you have any questions, contact us at info AT groundswellcenter.org or call 607 319 5095.

Groundswell is an initiative of the EcoVillage at Ithaca Center for Sustainability Education, which is a Project of the not-for-profit Center for Transformative Action, Tax ID: 16‐0990318

-- 
Rachel Firak
New Farmer Training Coordinator
Groundswell Center for Local Food & Farming
PO Box 6679
Ithaca, NY  14851
607-319-5095

www.groundswellcenter.org

I am generally on email MWTh 9 am - 5 pm.

*Helping diverse learners develop the skills, knowledge and access to
resources they need to build more equitable and sustainable local food
systems*