Welcome to Skagit County
December 11th 2009
Farmers Unite: Bilingual Farm Business Planning Course Helps Farmers of Diverse Backgrounds Develop Roadmap for Success
Farming can be a wonderful lifestyle but to achieve financial success, today's farmers must be as good at growing a business as they are at growing their crops and managing livestock. Beginning farmers are well-advised to look at their farm as a new business, with all the careful planning that entails, while existing operations must carefully evaluate how diversification or expansion might impact land, labor, capital, and management resources.
WSU Skagit County Extension will offer a 12-week, bilingual “Agricultural Entrepreneurship and Farm Business Planning” course to help new and existing farmers gain skills in business planning and direct marketing. The course emphasizes financial and legal issues unique to farm-based businesses. The course's bilingual format supports a culturally-inclusive learning environment wherein participants grow accustomed to hearing farming and business terms in English as well as Spanish, both of which are dominant languages on today's farms.
Classes are held Thursday evenings, January 14, 2010 through April 8, 2010 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at WSU Skagit County Extension, located at 11768 Westar Lane, Suite A, Burlington, WA 98233.
This in-depth business planning course covers evaluating resources, planning and research, legal and management issues, marketing strategies, budgets and profit/loss statements along with how to cultivate financial resources. During the course, participants will develop a business plan they can present to lenders or investors to finance a new enterprise or expand an existing farm-based business. Following the course, graduates who do not have land will be eligible to implement their business plans on leased farmland managed by NovoFarm, a new farm business incubator located in Burlington..
The lead facilitator is Stanwood Angus beef rancher Holly Thompson, a WSU graduate in animal science and agriculture economics. Thompson recently assisted with WSU Skagit County Extension’s “Sustainable Small Farming and Ranching” course and has worked for Northwest Farm Credit Services as a loan officer. Co-instructors include Don McMoran, Agricultural and Natrual Rescources Educator for Skagit County; Sarita Schaffer, Regional Coordinator for WSU's Latino Farming Program and co-founder of www.GrowFood.org; and Silvestre Duenez, a Business student at Skagit Valley College.
The course features a full line-up of local guest speakers including bankers, business professionals, and successful farm owners. In addition, there will be two Saturday field trips to learn how other thriving farms are turning business plans into profitable reality.
Class size is limited to 20 farms and pre-registration is required. Cost for the twelve-week course is $250; register now to hold your spot. To register or for more information on the course, please contact Sarita Schaffer at (206) 914-7948 or sschaffer@wsu.edu.
For more information on the Cultivating Success series please visit www.cultivatingsuccess.org. For more information on other bilingual small farming courses or opportunities at the NovoFarm Agricultural Business Incubator, contact Sarita Schaffer (contacts above).
Valerie DeKok
Staff Assistant II
WSU Skagit County Extension
11768 Westar Lane, Suite A
Burlington, WA 98233
Phone: 360-428-4270 ext. 221
Fax: 360-428-4263
Email: vdekok@co.skagit.wa.us
Web: http://skagit.wsu.edu/