April 3 - Best Practices Workshop
By Richard Pirog

We have a special event, The Best Practices workshop - sponsored by the Value Chain Partnerships project (which provides partial funding for RFSWG) on April 3 at the Gateway Hotel in Ames.  This is a very unique event, where we'll present real-life  food value chain challenges and participants will  have opportunities to use their knowledge and wisdom to come up with solutions.

We will have sessions on the following topics:
-Financing an Unconventional Ag Business
-Evaluating Potential Partners and Buyers
-Addressing Challenges in Logistics
-Innovating in a Maturing Market
-Policy and Incentives in Value Chains
-Finding and Retaining Good Employees

Brief write ups on these sessions are found in the attached flier

Each session will be an interactive discussion among practitioners who want to discuss and solve problems. Each session will have a facilitator, an outside consultant, and a short case study to get the discussion rolling.

Anybody who has attended RFSWG meetings is invited, but space is limited so we can keep the audience small enough to allow ample opportunities for dialogue and problem-solving.  This is the first time that participants from all four of our working groups (Regional Foods, Niche Pork, Small Meat Processing, and the new Fruit and Vegetables Group) will come together.

Attached is the flier and registration form. Please respond promptly to me if you are interested in attending - as space for RFSWG is limited.

Hope you'll consider both events!

Thanks,

Rich Pirog
Associate Director
Marketing and Food Systems Program Leader
Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture
209 Curtiss Hall Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa 50011-1050
515 294-1854
FAX: 515 294-9696
e-mail:  rspirog@iastate.edu
Web page URL:  http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/