Recap: Farm and Food Business Viability for Thriving Communities

On May 26th 2021, CFF partnered with the Joyce & Irving Goldman Family Foundation, and Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders, to host a funder briefing titled Farm and Food Business Viability for Thriving Communities.

We heard from member organizations of the Agricultural Viability Alliance who provide 1:1 business technical assistance to farm and food businesses in the northeast. We also heard from Lee Hennessy, founder and owner of Moxie Ridge Farm and Creamery, whose story of success is tied to the technical assistance he received from Alliance members.

The speakers illustrated the unique challenges of keeping a farm business afloat, even if one is fortunate enough to learn the skills of farming and have access to land. The business, finance, legal, and in some cases grant writing know-how required are simply too much for many entrepreneurs. That’s where 1-to-1 business technical assistance comes in.

The Northeast is blessed with multiple organizations who provide exactly this type of assistance, and now they are made even stronger with the creation of the Alliance. The Agricultural Viability Alliance supports members groups by building a robust pipeline of business advisors who deliver best-in-class advising across all business stages, scales, types, and populations, as well as working together to advocate for policy that would ensure equitable access to business technical assistance.

The speakers were:

The slides from the presentation are visible in the video below, but you can also download the presentation as well as the speaker bios to follow along. The Alliance also shared a State of the Sector report (2019); a story document that highlights the services their members offer; and an organizational 1-pager.

The following time markers can be used to jump around to different sections of the video:

  • Start – Welcome and intro by Adam Liebowitz, CFF Director
  • 0:55 – Ben Binswanger, Executive Director of Joyce & Irving Goldman Family Foundation, discusses his foundation’s interest in this sector
  • 6:00 – Johanna de Graffenreid outlines the agenda
  • 7:35 – Todd Erling
  • 29:00 – Lee Hennessy
  • 52:00 – Chris Wayne
  • 1:07:55 – Q&A
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