Jan 7, 2019New agribusiness program to aid women farmers, ranchers
Women entrepreneurs face significant challenges in accessing funding, training and business support. To help bridge these gaps the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) is partnering with the NASDA (National Association of State Departments of Agriculture) Foundation and the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) to help. The three-part project consists of a survey, a competition and business accelerator program. The goal is to offer women who own or operate farms, ranches, food or beverage businesses a hand up, so they can grow and succeed.
To determine what women in Oregon and Washington need, the NASDA Foundation launched an online survey on Dec. 2. The responses will inform the training and development of a women’s business accelerator program due to launch in the fall/winter 2019. If you know a woman who owns a farm/ranch or a farm-based food business in Washington or Oregon, please share the survey link. The survey is open through Jan. 31, 2019.
In an effort to recruit women the NASDA Foundation is sponsoring a Women Farm to Food Business Competition. Women from Oregon and Washington will compete for a total of $40,000 in funds to launch, grow or scale their business. The application can be found here: https://www.nasda.org/foundation/women-in-agriculture. The competition opens Jan. 1, 2019; finalists will attend the NASDA Winter Policy Conference Feb. 26-27, 2019 in Arlington, Virginia.
Both the survey and the competition will help launch the NASDA Women Farm to Food Accelerator Program later in 2019. This is a 90-day program that will offer training, skill building and networking all tailored to the needs of women in agribusiness. For questions about the NASDA Foundation projects, please contact Amy Gilroy [email protected], 503-872-6600.
— Washington State Potato Commission