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About the SBDC
Agribusiness &
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What do the Agribusiness and Food Specialty Centers Do? 1. The Centers offer one-on-one consulting specific to farm-based businesses, and those interested in organic, natural and/or specialty food issues and products. It assists agribusiness entrepreneurs to access industry research and develop operationally-oriented business plans. 2. The Center Schedules regular educational programs, presentations, and speakers geared toward agribusiness and specialty food markets, including ServSafe training for food handlers, Farming Profitability for small-medium-sized farms and urban farmers, and Building Your Food Business for anyone interested in starting a specialty food, organic or natural food concern. 3. The Center acts as a one-stop-shop to link you to the proper individuals who will assist you with research, marketing and industry statistics, as well as product testing labs. The Center links to partners such as the Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and the US Department of Agriculture as well as key initiatives and associations such as the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, NCAT, and the Keystone Development Center. 4. The Center follows your progress along six phases from idea development to product commercialization.
Other Agribusiness assistance:
The Center assists with business, Ag Plan and marketing plan
development, loan packaging and links you to potential capital
acquisition entities. Experienced staff consultants can also help
you in the following areas: A. Start up cost analysis B. Industry research C. Strategic planning D. Product positioning E. Pricing F. Profitability G. Loan packaging
So what does all this cost?Because the Agribusiness and Food Specialty Centers, initially a pilot program funded by a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission, have now evolved into a regional program of the PASBDC network, there is no cost for the one-on-one assistance you will receive by staff consultants in many areas. Registration fees are associated with training and educational programs. There are, typically, fees associated with product testing, packaging, shelf-life testing and labeling through independent labs or partnering agencies. The Center will work with you and its referral partners to ensure that you understand any costs before you incur them. Where are the Centers Located? The main Center hubs are located at the University of Scranton SBDC, and the Pennsylvania College of Technology, Wellsboro Branch Campus. Initially, clients from the Bradford and Tioga areas visited the Agribusiness Center in Wellsboro, while clients from Lackawanna, Susquehanna and Wyoming counties met with agribusiness staff consultants either at the University of Scranton location. Presently, the regional program effort will meet clients from across the PASBDC network that are referred by other SBDCs, and have established web-based tools to work at a distance with individuals on a regular basis. The Center has also established a lab training site at the Carbondale Technology Transfer Center (CTTC) affiliated with the Kitchen Incubator at that location.
Download the 2011 BFBL Local Food Guide For more information about the Agribusiness program, please contact: Scranton: (570) 941-7588 or 800-829-7232 Contact: Maria Montenegro The University of Scranton SBDC AdLin Bldg 800 Linden Street Scranton, PA 18510
Wellsboro: (570) 724-7703 Contact: Susan Dillon The Pennsylvania College of Technology Wellsboro Campus, 12880 Route 6 Wellsboro, PA 16901 A Program of The University of Scranton Small Business Development Center. In partnership with the Northern Tier Regional Planning and Development Commission, PennTAP, and Keystone College. Funded by the Appalachian Regional Commission PA-15725-07. This program serves Bradford, Lackawanna, Susquehanna, Tioga and Wyoming counties.
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