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For Immediate Release
Contact:  Beth Holtzman, <mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]


Getting Your Ag Business off the Right Start: 
Women’s Ag Network Course for Beginning Farmers
BERLIN, VT – Growing Places, a non-credit course 
designed to help people explore the possibilities 
– and realities – of owning or expanding an 
agricultural business, will be offered by the 
Women’s Agricultural Network (WAgN) in Middlebury 
beginning in mid-October. Additional on-line 
sessions will be offered in early 2008.

People interested in all types of farm 
enterprises are welcome, and no prior experience 
is necessary. “Growing Places is designed to help 
ag entrepreneurs get off to the right start in 
business planning and development,” says WAgN Coordinator Beth Holtzman.

Whether in person or on-line, Growing Places 
offers the same curriculum. Participants develop 
goals for themselves and their businesses, become 
more familiar with financing options, identify 
and evaluate available resources, examine 
marketing strategies, and learn about agencies 
and organizations that provide support and assistance to farmers.

“The course covered a lot of topics at a 
reasonable depth, giving us concrete information 
as well as a lot of food for thought,” said a 
recent Growing Places graduate. “Now I feel much 
more confident about what I need to do next and 
how I should operate my business.”

Since 1995, more than 250 people have completed 
Growing Places. People for whom travel time, 
family and work commitments make participation in 
an in-person class difficult, may find the 
on-line course a good option. Individuals with 
slower Internet connections, who prefer “live” 
interaction, or who are less comfortable with 
written communication may prefer the classroom 
setting. Two on-line sessions will be offered in early 2008.

Growing Places is open to anyone. Registration is 
on a first-come, first-served basis.

The Middlebury course will run on three 
consecutive Saturdays beginning October 13 from 9 
am to 3 pm. Tuition is $125, but there is a $25 
discount for people who register by the early 
bird deadline of September 24. The regular 
registration deadline is October 2. Limited 
scholarship assistance is available.

For more information and to obtain registration 
materials, visit WAgN’s website at 
<http://www.uvm.edu/wagn>www.uvm.edu/wagn. Or, 
contact WAgN Outreach Coordinator Beth Holtzman 
at 802-223-2389 or toll-free in Vermont at 866-860-1382.

Growing Places is offered by the Women’s 
Agricultural Network (WAgN) a program of 
University of Vermont Extension supported by the 
Outreach and Assistance for Socially 
Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Competitive 
Grants Program of the Cooperative State Research, 
Education and Extension Service, USDA and the USDA Risk Management Agency.

UVM Extension and USDA, cooperating, offer 
education and employment to everyone without 
regard to race, color, national origin, religion, 
age, disability, political beliefs, sexual 
orientation and marital or familial status.



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Beth Holtzman
Women's Agricultural Network

617 Comstock Rd.
Berlin, VT 05602

[log in to unmask]
802-223-2389 ext. 15
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