USDA Northwest and Rocky Mountain Regional Food Business Center

Come work with me (and our amazing Conservation Services team) helping Colorado farmers and ranchers connect with market opportunities for their beneficial regenerative ag practices. Closes 11/18/24. Colorado Department of Agriculture STAR USDA Northwest and Rocky Mountain Regional Food Business Center Soil & Climate Alliance Mad Agriculture Rodale Institute #regenerative #agriculture #climatesmart #colorado #job

Great opportunity for Rocky Mountain and PNW Food/Ag innovators: The NWRM RFBC Idaho team is offering grants between $3,000 and $15,000 that are designed to support small to mid-scale Idaho food and farm businesses, and to get locally produced food into local markets by strengthening food supply chains. This is the first of two rounds in?the Idaho Business Builder grant program. A total of $100,000 will be awarded in this round, with an anticipated 7 to 15 awards being granted. ? Your Idaho-based farm, ranch, or value-added food business may be eligible for this program. The NWRM Business Builder grants are designed for farms and ranches in Idaho, and non-farm food businesses that are (1) located in Idaho and (2) sourcing from local or regional producers, defined as within Idaho or 450 miles of their business. Entities must benefit at least two entities in the local food system, and must identify as one or more of the following: ? Farm, ranch, and fish/seafood businesses Value-added food businesses Food processors, aggregators, and distributors ? The Idaho State Team will host a series of webinars during the Fall 2024 Attention Rocky Mountain and North West Food and Ag related Businesses! Business Builder Grant application period. All informational sessions and office hours will be recorded and posted to the website. https://lnkd.in/gi-RY4nR Idaho Business Builder Grants - Informational Session 1 - Tuesday, November 5th, 10 am PT-11 am PT/11 am MT-12 pm MT? Idaho Business Builder Grants - Informational Session 2 - Thursday, November 21st, 5 pm PT-6 pm PT/6 pm MT-7 pm MT? Idaho Business Builder Grants - Office Hours 1 - Tuesday, December 3rd, 3 pm PT-4 pm PT/4 pm MT- 5 pm MT?R Idaho Business Builder Grants - Office Hours 2 - Thursday, January 9th, 11 am PT-12 pm PT/12 pm MT-1 pm MT?R ? For full eligibility details, please visit our?webpage.?If you have questions about the Business Builder grant, please complete this?form?and Tayler Reinman, Idaho State Coordinator, will reach out to you promptly. USDA Northwest and Rocky Mountain Regional Food Business Center

Join us at the ??2024 Shared Kitchen Summit ??where 200+ emerging and established shared kitchens unite! This exclusive event is tailored to EMPOWER SHARED KITCHENS with the essential tools for success, including: ??1:1 mentorship ??Hot topic panel discussions w/ industry leaders ??Dynamic networking opportunities ??Food system bus tour of NOLA ??Golden Whisk Awards Celebration WHEN/WHERE: ?? November 13-15???? New Orleans, Louisiana? ? Don’t miss this rare opportunity to tap into the largest network of shared-use kitchens, including food incubator admins, shared kitchen owners/operators, and ecosystem providers!! Head to: SharedKitchenSummit.com for all the juicy details! @thefoodcorridor? ?#SharedKitchenSummit #Networking #FoodSystems #Sustainability #FoodInnovation #FoodBusiness #SharedKitchen #CommercialKitchen #IncubatorKitchen

We are thrilled to announce that we have secured funding to renovate our Food Extrusion Unit, supported by the Research Facilities Act Program, project award no. MONW-2024-06496, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA's) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). As the only pilot-scale food research extruder for public use in the Mountain states, this facility is important for value-added innovations in our region. The renovation will boost our capacity to serve stakeholders, especially those underserved, in value-added innovation of underutilized crops. Our goal is to diversify cropping, localize food manufacturing, and build a more resilient food system. More details in our profile. We're grateful for the support from USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture,?Montana State University-Bozeman, and our industry partners! #AgInnovation?#FoodTech?#USDANIFA?#MontanaState

North of Nowhere Beef: Montana BEP Program Success Story When North of Nowhere Beef wanted to make USDA-inspected, shelf-stable ground beef jerky for the Montana School Backpack Program, they knew they needed expert help. With the assistance of the Mission West Community Development Partners FADC, North of Nowhere entered the Food & Ag Business Enhancement Program (BEP) for recipe development with the Oregon State University Food Innovation Lab.?Learn more about the MT FADCs: https://lnkd.in/e6Qv4EGZ The Opheim, MT-raised beef, along with a list of parameters, were sent to the OSU food scientists. Parameters included things like no non-natural preservatives, no additives or fillers, no soy, no gluten, no sugar, the lowest salt possible while still achieving excellent flavor, etc. After three rounds of four test batches, and many discussions and adjustments, we landed on the recipe we all agreed met the criterion, including the important criteria of tasting great. “The expense of expert food scientist assistance over several months would have been hard for our small business to afford without the BEP assistance. Some of the ingredients, ingredient sources, and processes that the food scientists came up with were things we likely would not have determined on our own or would have taken us longer to figure out,” says North of Nowhere owner, Darlis Nordhagen. The first large batch of jerky was prepared for schools at the end of August. What a win for this business and Montana students! Learn more about North of Nowhere here: https://northnowhere.net/ Visit our Montana State team webpage for more success stories. https://lnkd.in/giaDZBBD

NW & Rocky Mountain Regional Food Business Center Webinar October 30, 2024 | 10:00am to 11:30am Virtual Webinar Registration https://lnkd.in/gDixGHXA Please join the Colorado Department of Agriculture and the National Grazing Lands Coalition as we host the NW & Rocky Mountain Regional Food Business Center for an informative webinar on October 30th. The team from the Regional Food Business Center will present about their work and opportunities for collaboration with others in the space of Climate Smart Commodities. Attendees will be able to ask questions to our presenters during the webinar.?

The PNW is doing incredible work to advance regeneration ?? Great work Ty Meyer , Kay Meyer, Ryan Slabaugh, and Think Regeneration-Spokane Conservation District teams!

What a great team partnering to do good work!

Join us on?October 25,?2024?at 12:00 pm for an engaging?webinar?on the newly released Farm to Loading Dock Landscape Assessment. This assessment explores the partnerships, training, and resources needed to move food from Colorado’s agricultural producers to wholesale institutional markets. This?webinar?will share the?report?findings, before focusing primarily on the various policy solutions currently being implemented or considered to ease pain points, increase resource allocation, and strengthen and sustain our local food economy.??

Lauren Gwin, Anders van Sandt and Dawn Thilmany from our leadership team framed a short policy comment on how the new Food Business Center network aligns with broader USDA and food supply chain goals and applied research. https://lnkd.in/gtWDNPf9