Hardwick, VT, August 22, 2011 – On September 2nd and 3rd, the Center for an Agricultural Economy (CAE) and Vermont Food Venture Center (VFVC) will receive and process home-grown garden vegetables and donate them to regional food pantries, including the Woodbury and Hardwick locations. Annie Rowell, staff and primary of the VFVC minimal processing project, is coordinating “Stock the Pantry” to process locally grown food and continue CAE’s ongoing efforts to support local access to local food.
Recently, the VFVC processed 250 pounds of zucchini grown by local farms and distributed it to schools and one senior center in the area. The experience was valuable in helping Rowell expand the minimal processing at VFVC to other crops like spinach, peppers and squash. “By utilizing the processing equipment at the VFVC”, Rowell said “we can capture food from the community that potentially could be wasted from sheer over runs.”
The CAE’s Food Access program focuses on bringing local food to all Vermonters, from their annual Pies for People/Soup for Supper events to monthly donations and the Food Access Fund, a program that reimburses the Hardwick Food Pantry for local food purchases. “By lightly processing vegetables into a more easily used form”, says Monty Fischer, Executive Director, “we can support local organizations that distribute food to those most in need and meet our goals of a healthy food system inVermont.”
People who are interested in donating their extra summer squash, sweet peppers or other excess vegetables to “Stock the Pantry” are invited to drop off their donations at one of four locations from September 2nd to September 3rd. The VFVC will donate unprocessed vegetables to the local food pantries along with the minimally processed squash and peppers. Donation locations on September 2nd will be the VFVC at 140 Junction Rd, Hardwick from 8am to 4pm; the CAE table at the Hardwick Farmers’ Market at Atkins Field on Granite St., Hardwick from 3pm to 6pm. Donation locations on September 3rd will be the C Village Store at 25 S. Craftsbury Rd, Craftsbury from 10am to 1pm; the CAE table at the Craftsbury Farmers’ Market on the Craftsbury Common from 10am to 1pm. Other donation locations to be announced.
To volunteer for the processing or to find out more, please contact Annie Rowell at the VFVC at 472-5362, ext 4 or at arowell@hardwickagriculture.org. For more information about food access and the Hardwick area food system, please visit the Center for an Agricultural Economy‘s website.
Vermont Get Online – Free Workshops
Google is sponsoring three workshops in the Burlington and Rutland areas that are free!
Get a free website
Create and publish a website for your business in less than 60 minutes at our event. Learn how to customize your Google Places online listing.
- Get a free, easy-to-build, professional website
- Get a free customized domain name and hosting for one year
- Claim and customize your free Google Places listing
- Learn how to optimize your new website to be found on Google
Running your business online
- Find out how to take advantage of online tools to run and promote your business.
- Learn more about Google’s top tools for small businesses, including Google Places, Google AdWords, Google Analytics, and Google Apps
- Discover how to get found and attract customers
Introduction to Google AdWords
This is a beginner’s guide to Google AdWords, including how to get started and how to improve your performance.
- Learn how to create your AdWords account, choose keywords, and write great ads
- Get answers to your questions from a Google AdWords expert
- Find out how Google ranks ads
- See live demos with step-by-step guidance
Register Here: http://www.vermontgetonline.com/events
July 7, 2011, Hardwick, Vermont-The Center for an Agricultural Economy (CAE) and the Vermont Food Venture Center (VFVC) is sponsoring a ServSafe Class Thursday, July 28th from 8am -5pm at its new facility at 141 Junction Road, Hardwick, VT 05843. This class provides valuable skills and information for people who work with food – chefs, wait staff, and is required of all clients of the Vermont Food Venture Center.
Annie Rowell was a participant in a recent ServSafe class at the VFVC. “After taking ServSafe, I felt much more prepared to be a responsible user of a shared-kitchen space. There are so many hazards associated with food preparation and processing that I was not aware of, most of which are easily avoided when properly informed.”, says Ms. Rowell. “It is important to realize that all VFVC clients must keep the space clean, as the integrity of any product created at the VFVC relies on good reputation of clean production.”
Brian Norder, the instructor for the course is a food business consultant from Morrisville, Vermont. Former Project Director of the Vermont Food Venture Center from 1197 to 2010, Mr. Norder frequently speaks and consults on topics of food business development, marketing, food science and food safety and is a certified instructor of ServSafe and HACCP.
The registration fee of $135 includes the textbook and exam and light refreshments. Registration and pre-payment are required. Please see the www.vermontfoodventurecenter.org for more information or to download a registration form. Please contact Heidi Krantz at 802-472-5362 or hkrantz@vtsbdc.org to register or for more information.
Contact:
Heidi Krantz
802-472-5362
ServSafe Class – Monday, June 13th
For Immediate Release
June 7, 2011, Hardwick, VT- The Vermont Food Venture Center (VFVC) is sponsoring a ServSafe Class Monday, June 13th from 8am -5pm at its new facility at 140 Junction Road, Hardwick, VT 05843. The class a certification program that is required of all clients of the VFVC and recommended for anyone who handles food served to the public.
The cost of the class is $135 and includes the textbook and exam and light refreshments. Registration and pre-payment are required.
The instructor, Brian Norder, is a food business consultant from Morrisville, Vermont. He was Project Director of the VFVC while it was in Fairfax, VT from 1997 through 2010. Norder frequently speaks and consults on topics of food business development, marketing, food science and food safety and is a certified instructor of ServSafe and HACCP.
Contact:
Heidi Krantz
472-5962
March Events!
Specialty Food Seminar with Annie Christopher and Peter Backman of Annie’s Naturals
Saturday, March 12, 2011
9am to 12pm
Craftsbury Public Library, Craftsbury Common, VT
Join Annie Christopher and Peter Backman, founders of Annie’s Naturals and successful entrepreneurs, in the beautiful Craftsbury Public Library to learn about product development, label design, container choice, cost, distribution and marketing for the specialty food market.
Annie has a BA from Colorado Womens College in 1964 and an A.S. from New York City College of Technology in Hotel and Restaurant Management in 1983 with an emphasis on Culinary Arts. Peter worked as a farmer in his early twenties on the family farm and became a salesman for the family printing company Capital City Press and worked for 15 years in sales in the printing industry. Annies Naturals was founded in 1984 by Annie and was located in North Calais at the family homestead. Peter joined the company in 1990 to oversee Sales and Accounting. They were partners in the business and oversaw many aspects of the company together until it was sold in 2005.
Bringing Your Product to Market: Specialty Food Product Development
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
8:30am – 4:30pm
Sterling College Houston House, N. Craftsbury Rd, Craftsbury Common, VT
Join two experts in food development, product placement and marketing!
This full-day comprehensive workshop at the Houston House at Sterling College, with Cathy Bacon and Molly Creelman, will include topics like market research, goals and objectives, where to sell, competitive analysis, product testing and refinement, packaging, labeling and pricing and margins. If you are selling or plan to sell your products, this seminar is not to be missed!
TO SIGN UP FOR MORE INFORMATION, please visit the Vermont Small Business Development Center (VtSBDC) site or copy and past the following url into your browser window: http://vtsbdc.centerdynamics.com/workshop.aspx?ekey=20310010
Cathy Bacon, founder of Cathy Freedom Foods, LLC operates a Randolph based food development center that supports consulting through co-packing services since 2008. For the previous 20 years Cathy operated a specialty food company focused on using locally produced ingredients. Active in supporting local, regional and national sales and marketing of Vermont products, Cathy worked with local food producers supporting kitchen to market activities. Cathy’s credentials include serving on a number of community boards as well as the VT Specialty Food Assoc., VT. Grocers Assoc. and VT Handcrafters.
Molly Creelman’s professional experience ranges from government, marketing and education. Molly campaigned for Gov. Jeanne Sheehan and served as her Director of Scheduling. Using her public figure experience, Molly subsequently was a senior sales executive at a national event marketing and advertising company. She created, budgeted for and sold interactive marketing programs for food brands within national companies including: Kellogg’s, Campbell’s, Procter& Gamble Co. and Coca Cola. Partnering her clients with Nascar events, NFL games, Spring Breakers on location and pop star concert tours, Molly has direct experience with product placement, sales, marketing and co-branding synergies for food brands. Molly taught both United States and European History before starting Miss Molly’s Provisions.
Post Tour Check-In
It had been a while since we hosted any tours of the Vermont Food Venture Center, and Heidi Krantz–our Small Agricultural Business Advisor–reported it was a great tour.
“Seventeen people showed up – 5 were folks we are currently in conversation with, the others were new contacts. The variety of products is great – still no real competition among the potential clients! There were lots of good questions and folks stayed around after the tour and networked.”
We’re hoping to get in contact with more potential clients as the weeks near opening. For those people who have already stated serious interest in becoming clients of the center, we are welcoming suggestions for desired equipment as we finish outfitting the facility.
More news to come soon!
Get a Sneak Peak of our Incredible New Place!
This Saturday, February 19th we will be holding a free, public tour of the Vermont Food Venture Center!
The tour will begin at 10am and run approximately one hour.
The VFVC is located at the Hardwick Industrial Park, which is on Junction Road off of Route 15, in Hardwick.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Opportunites Abound!
For Immediate Release
The Vermont Food Venture Center (VFVC), a modern 15,000 square foot food processing facility being constructed in Hardwick, Vermont is nearing completion and seeking clients and tenants for the many opportunities presented by the new building.
Tom Stearns, chair of the VFVC steering committee recently commented on the building’s capacity to benefit various food entrepreneurs, “We can accommodate everyone from existing companies who need to sign a multi-year lease for large processing spaces to start-up food businesses requiring a few hours of processing with shared-use equipment. The facility will be of special value to entrepreneurs who want to develop food products for sale to schools and hospitals.” The VFVC is especially interested in attracting a “shovel ready” meat processing business to fabricate value added meat products in support of local farmers. The facility will support numerous food processes including the production of a wide variety of baked goods, minimally processed fruits and vegetables, salsas, syrups, and soups. It is also possible to use the VFVC for the production of body products such as salves using food grade ingredients.
Although construction is nearing completion the VFVC can still accommodate specific building needs for potential multi-year tenants of the facility. Stearns stated “At this point we have the flexibility to customize some of our space to meet the needs of an expanding food company. What a remarkable opportunity for a growing company to quickly and affordably meet its production space needs. We have already done all the permitting and basic construction work.”
The VFVC provides an opportunity for food processing companies of all sizes to locate in the heart of a robust entrepreneurial community. Over the past five years several food based businesses have been established or expanded within sight of the VFVC. Warehousing and loading dock capabilities of the VFVC provide significant value for the receipt of raw materials and increased efficiency in distribution of finished products. Andrew Meyer, owner of Vermont Soy located adjacent to the VFVC said “We look forward to the opportunity to increase local access to major distribution channels by being located so close to the VFVC.”
In addition to the modern and efficient food processing equipment the VFVC also provides access to significant technical assistance. Heidi Krantz the Vermont Small Business Development Center Area Business Advisor for the Northeast Kingdom is available to food entrepreneurs considering use of the VFVC and Londa Nwadike of UVM Extension will provide food safety support to food entrepreneurs using the building.
Info Meeting in Newport, Jan 22nd
For Immediate Release
Information Meeting on the Vermont Food Venture Center
January 17, 2010, Hardwick, VT - Have you heard about the Vermont Food Venture Center (VFVC) being rebuilt in Hardwick and wondered what it is? Do you have questions about how an incubator kitchen might help with your food business? If so, please join Heidi Krantz, Small Agricultural Business Advisor for the Vermont Small Business Development Center (VtSBDC) and Louise Calderwood, Interim Project Manager for the Vermont Food Venture Center, at an information meeting on January 22nd at 10am in the North Country High School Career Center in Newport.
The mission of the Vermont Food Venture Center is to provide professional food processing opportunities to regional agricultural producers in a way that increases the value of that agricultural production. As the facility will open this coming spring, Heidi and Louise will discuss the current and future plans for this kitchen, giving people an inside look at its construction and layout, available equipment, best use ideas and more. Technical questions about how to process food will not be addressed although contacts with consultants and technical assistance can be provided.
The North Country High School Career Center is located at 209 Veteran’s Ave in Newport. For more information or to ask questions, please contact Heidi Krantz at 802-472-5840, ext 3 or email her at hkrantz@vtsbdc.org
For information about the VFVC, please visit their site at www.vermontfoodventurecenter.org
Contact:
Heidi Krantz
Small Agricultural Business Advisor
Vermont Small Business Development Center
802-472-5840, ext 3
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