"Why Immigrants Should Invest In The Coming Midwestern Food Renaissance"

Rich Schell is an Illinois attorney and a very good writer on the subject of food and agriculture businesses.

Rich just posted a new piece to his blog, Schell Acres titled, "Why Immigrants Should Invest In The Coming Midwestern Food Renaissance".

A core of his idea is that there are four vital pieces for any entrepreneurial venture:  Founder/mission, Marketing, Making, and Money

Along with our Innovation Kitchen work, Rich brings in some very well known names in the world of entrepreneurship and enterprise into his piece:  Peter Drucker ("The man who invented management" - Businessweek), Ernesto Sirolli (The Sirolli Institute),  Paul Ray (Cultural Creatives) and Jenny Kassan, (Cutting Edge Capital).

Good company!  What I'm most proud of are the good words Rich shares about our work (emphasis added):

"Marketing:  Niche markets and a lot of them made possible by the fragmentation of the mass market in food and agriculture and the rise of the internet and foodies."

"Making:   Wholistic, Bio Based Organizations that are nimble, quick and niched like Rick Terrien's Innovation Kitchen that allows for the "Democratization of Food"-- small runs of batch products that are still FDA compliant. The internet makes it possible to fragment the mass market into a million pieces, and put the pieces and products together in new and profitable niches that have a margin, and that people buy to be different and not the same as everyone else."

This is exactly the path we're taking with our work at Innovation Kitchens.  We've been able to set up the pathways and maps that allow small farms, food businesses and entrepreneurs to create profitable niche food lines and new brands.  Both farms and consumers benefit and it's making some great jobs for people with disabilities along the way.

Thanks to Rich for the good words!

Why Immigrants Should Invest In The Coming Midwestern Food Renaissance

My entrepreneur loan fund hits 50 countries

I have a small personal loan fund that I run through KIVA.org

It allows me to loan small amounts of money to entrepreneurs all over the world.

KIVA lets me join financial forces with other small lenders to fund loans of our choosing.

This is called a revolving loan fund.  The monies just keep coming back as repayments and made available for lending once again.  I've put in just over $400 and thanks to KIVA I've been able to loan out more than $1,500.  I have a 100% repayment rate from the entrepreneurs receiving these loans.

I just made a loan to the 50th country in my portfolio. What a fun way to end the year.

I'm grateful to KIVA for making this possible!

Kiva

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My KIVA list of countries I've made loans to.  These entrepreneurs all over the world inspire me!

Albania

Armenia

Azerbaijan

Benin

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Bolivia

Cambodia

Chile

Columbia

Congo

Costa Rica

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

El Salvador

Georgia

Ghana

Honduras

Indonesia

India

Iraq

Jordan

Kenya

Kyrgyzstan

Lebanon

Liberia

Mali

Mexico

Mongolia

Mozambique

Nicaragua

Pakistan

Palestine

Paraguay

Peru

Philippines

Rwanda

Samoa

Senegal

Sierra Leone

Suriname

Tajikistan

Tanzania

Timor-Leste

Togo

Uganda

Ukraine

United States

Viet Nam

Yemen

My thanks and a fond farewell to Iowa County Economic Development

"... positive attitudes, willing support and assistance, and an obvious desire to help people succeed, which Terrien exemplifies.  This is a tribute to Terrien and his team but it's also an important model for the region, of which Iowa County is both a partner and a leader."  - WISC TV editorial, July 2013.

I've greatly enjoyed working in Iowa County, WI as the founding Executive Director of the Iowa County Area Economic Development Corporation.

This was my first experience launching a new nonprofit and the first time I've worked directly in economic development.  In this capacity I helped organize and set directions for this new organization.  I created policies and programs that have become nationally recognized and globally relevant.

I started the day the great recession was formally declared, Dec. 1 2008.  We're closing up the organization five years later.  Funding cuts and the improving economy both indicate its time for this organization to come to a close.

I've been grateful to all the friends I've made in this beautiful area, and the many businesses I've been fortunate enough to work with.

Here are a few of the results my work has generated in the past few years:

My report card from Iowa County businesses and stakeholders. Economic development report issued in Summer 2013.    Full report.  28 pages.

One page overview.  Highlights from 4.5 years of business and economic development in Iowa County, WI.

Food and Farm business development report.  Subset of main report focusing on food and farm entrepreneurship.  18 pages.

Letter from the Board Chair, Iowa County Area Economic Development Corporation (ICAEDC).  Nov. 2013

Thank you note from the Board of the ICAEDC.  Dec. 2013

What a great experience.  Thanks to all who welcomed me to the Iowa County area and all the great people I had the honor of working with there.

Thank you and best wishes one and all!

Innovation Kitchens welcomes Craig Kettleson as our new CFO

Innovation Kitchens LLC is proud to announce the addition of Craig Kettleson as our new Chief Financial Officer.  As CFO, Craig will lead our finance efforts and help bring our story to the world.

Craig has an extensive background in building and financing new businesses.  

Craig Kettleson serves as VP Finance for U.S. Foods and Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where his efforts have raised $1.2 million from private sources to date.

Craig has been a Founder and CFO of Woodridge Venture Group, a venture capital business focused on providing investment resources and technical assistance to businesses seeking to commercialize early stage renewable technologies.  While there Craig participated in private placements which successfully raised $14 million in equity.

 

Craig has served as the Business Development Manager for Wisconsin Business Development Corporation.  He was Lead Planner for MSA Professional Services, Inc.,  and the Community Finance Specialist for the Wisconsin Department of Development.

We welcome Craig and his extensive knowledge of finance, business development and the launch of successful new organizations.

Welcome Craig!

Lighting up a 109 year old food association with our Innovation Kitchens story

Just back from making a presentation about our work at the annual meeting of the Midwest Food Processors Association.

It was great fun to introduce all the new innovative farms, companies and brands we’ve helped develop.

It was even more fun to talk to major food processing stakeholders about the many positive, sustainable opportunities our model represents for their industry.

Thanks for the invitation to speak and to meet so many members who want to grow their industry through our Innovation Kitchens story.

Innovation Kitchen rock stars. Go YumButter!

My friends Matt and Adrian are smart food entrepreneurs who are fun to work with. 

Matt and I have talked about this since it was just a gleam in his eye.  Now he and Adrian are lighting up the artisan food world and I couldn't be prouder.

They are featured in this month's Martha Stewart Living magazine and they have an exciting Kickstarter campaign underway you should check out.

The Wisconsin Innovation Kitchen has supported the development of a number of great foods from many entrepreneurs and regional farms.   We are currently producing and packaging Matt and Adrian's Yumbutters.  A wonderful win-win.  Together we're making great food and important regional jobs.

Innovation Kitchen rock stars!


Yumbutter web site

Article about Martha Stewart meeting Yumbutter 

YumbutterGO's Kickstarter campaign

Support Yumbutter's Kickstarter campaign with just 3 clicks

Farms, food and the future

This is an amazing time to be considering careers and new businesses in the food world.

The University of Wisconsin National Agri-Marketing Association visited the Wisconsin Innovation Kitchen last week.

It was exciting discussion to consider the wide ranging opportunities these young people have waiting for them in food and agriculture.

Thanks for a great visit!

Farms, food and the future.  These young people inspire me!

"Farm-to-Institution: Next Steps in Supporting Local Food Infrastructure"

If you want regional food systems to work you have to include professionally certified small-batch food processing at a regional scale. 

Good new article:  "Fruit gives way to jam, tomatoes become sauce, vegetables are pickled, relished and frozen. Seasonality, and our responses to it, may be the single most defining characteristic of local food. And, methods of processing, preserving and adding value are emerging as an important part of the opportunity and challenge"

"Build Infrastructure and Develop Networks: In order to sell to institutions, farmers need to address product availability, seasonality, quality, and consistency, as well as the sales, distribution, processing and handling needs of institutions. U.S. food infrastructure is better equipped to deal with larger farms and longer supply chains. So, smaller farms aimed at localized sales often do not have the ability to wash, chop, pack or freeze their products in order to accommodate institutional demands."

Regional systems need support networks and year-round sales to succeed.

From Farm to institution:  Next Steps in Supporting Local Food Infrastructure. At HuffingtonPost.com  10/25/13 

Thanks to Michael Hoadley at FEWZION for the link.

Tomatoes are 'Sweet Olive' that we grew along with 'Sungolds' in our garden this year.  Both great producers.

Smart new grant program announced supporting value-added food businesses.

Farms and foods businesses in Southern Wisconsin just got a major boost that others should emulate. 

Badgerland Financial, our regional Farm Credit Administration lender, has just launched a very positive, creative new grant program that supports their customers and others who are interested in farm diversification and food entrepreneurship.

Their 'Beginning With Badgerland' grant program gives up to $1,500 grants to explore and grow food based businesses.  

Grants are available to any beginning farmer living in Badgerland Financial territory (see attached map), regardless of age.  The farmer needs to have less than ten years of experience operating a farm and should be able to show that farming is a part-time or full-time vocation.  (Full text is below)

This program includes the use of funds for developing value-added food products at licensed food processing facilities.

Our Innovation Kitchens can be used to develop these value-added products.  We have several programs that enable people to learn about growing their own small value-added food businesses.  The Badgerland Financial application is linked below.

There is great demand for regional and specialty foods.  This grant program gives Badgerland customers and others a way to grow and build businesses to meet this demand.  

This is a great tool for launching and growing farms and food businesses in Wisconsin.  Others should emulate.

Download the Badgerland Financial grant application

Badgerland Financial territory map 

Innovation Kitchens


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Below is the full description of the program.  Badgerland Financial's emerging market specialist Paul Dietmann's contact information is at the end:


October 23, 2013

Our Beginning with Badgerland Grant program is now up and running.  Grants are available to any beginning farmer living in Badgerland Financial territory (see attached map), regardless of age.  The farmer needs to have less than ten years of experience operating a farm and should be able to show that farming is a part-time or full-time vocation.

There are three grant funding levels depending on the amount of business—if any--that the farmer does with us:

• Beginning farmers who are Badgerland Financial loan customers with a loan principal balance of $50,000 or more can receive up to $1,500 in grant funding.
• Beginning farmers who use Badgerland Financial’s tax, accounting, or other related services, or have a principal balance of less than $50,000 on loans with us, or are “next generation” farmers that represent the next generation of a farm operation that already has a lending relationship with us (for example, the daughter of a family that has a loan with Badgerland Financial) can receive up to $500 in grant funding.
• Beginning farmers who do not have any business relationship with Badgerland Financial can receive up to $250 in grant funding.

Grant funds can be used to pay for a variety of farm business-related expenses including:

• The first year of tax or farm accounting services from a Badgerland Financial tax consultant or farm accounting specialist
• Purchase of farm accounting software
• Tuition for courses in farm business management, accounting, or related topics
• Registration fees for farm-related conferences or workshops
• Fees for development of a new value-added agricultural product at a licensed food processing establishment
• FSA guarantee fees
• Other farm business expenses

To apply for a grant, the farmer simply needs to fill out a brief application.  The Beginning with Badgerland Grant application form is available on our website, www.badgerlandfinancial.com, in the lower right-hand corner of the front page.  It can be completed and submitted online, or printed off and mailed, e-mailed, or faxed in.  There is no application deadline. 

If the application is approved, the applicant will receive a confirmation letter along with a W-9 and a postage-paid return envelope they can use to send receipts for grant-eligible expenses.  Expenses will be reimbursed 100% up to the total amount of the recipient’s eligibility level.

In addition to the Beginning with Badgerland grant program, we are developing an e-newsletter for beginning farmers and people who work with beginning farmers (if you’d like to be added to our e-mail list, please let me know).  We will also have a Beginning with Badgerland page on our new website, which is slated to be live by mid November.

If you have any questions, give me a call or send me an e-mail.

Thanks,

Paul Dietmann

Emerging Markets Specialist

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Badgerland Financial

1430 North Ridge Drive, PO Box 70

Prairie du Sac, WI 53578

608.370.6956 (o)  608.963-7763 (c)  608.643.0116 (f)

Toll free cell: 800.236.3376

NMLS #868481

badgerlandfinancial.com

Looking for regional food ingredients for your restaurant, store or brand?

The Innovation Kitchens we're helping have access to thousands of pounds of sustainably raised fall crops, grown in Wisconsin and nearby.

Think beautiful deep-orange pumpkin purees, butternut squash purees and chopped/frozen late season crops including colorful bell peppers.  How about delicious apple sauces and apple butters?

These great regional foods can all be farm identified.   They are lightly processed, frozen, or packed in jars for year-round sale and use.

Frozen purees and chopped/frozen mixes can be used by restaurants, stores and food entrepreneurs year-round as ingredients or specialty foods.  We can also package them in consumer sized containers for commercial sale.  Ongoing storage options are available.

We're looking for regional relationships with buyers and sellers that want to celebrate regional foods in the area.

Interested in access to great regional ingredients and foods year round?  Here's a great way to get them.


Innovation Kitchens