What Works! Rural Entrepreneurship & Community Development in the Northeast is taking place September 28-30 in Burlington at the Wyndham Hotel. We are offering several workshops that might be of special interest to the ag community so please help us spread the word... Registration materials and more detailed information available at www.regonline.com/whatworks Some of the topics include: Potential for Expanded Agriculture in the Northeast--Assessing Trade-Offs Between Biofuels Production and Animal Agriculture. Our research will empower farmers and other rural landowners to make informed decisions on alternate uses of their farm, forest, and open-space lands. A burgeoning technical literature on biofuels production and animal agriculture will be summarized and interpreted in the context of rural communities in the Northeast. Trade-offs between efforts to exploit biofuel production potential and maintaining, expanding, or diversifying animal agriculture will be assessed. Presenters: Nelson Bills, Professor, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY; Michael Baker, Beef Cattle Extension Specialist, Department of Animal Sciences, Cornell University Getting Farmers onto the Land and Keeping Them There: Models, Opportunities and Lesson's Learned. Alternative enterprises and agritourism hold great promise for enhancing farming's profitability and integrating agriculture into sustainable community development strategies. The first half of the session will feature Intervale, a unique and practical community based non-profit organization that is a collective of programs and ventures. Presenters will share the history, growth, and success of Intervale's programs that help start-up farmers realize their dreams. The second half of this session will feature farmers and agencies that support on-the-farm tourism development throughout the Northeast. Presenters: Lindsey Ketchel, Intervale Farms Program Director; Sharon Fialco, Intervale Success on Farms Program Coordinator; Lisa Chase, University of Vermont Extension and Vermont Tourism Data Center; Karen Fortin, Carman Brook Farm; Beth Kennett, Liberty Hill Farm; Diane Kuehn, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry; Stu Nunnery, Rhode Island Center for Agricultural Promotion and Education. Farm Viability Enhancement Programs in the Northeast. Effective business planning is important to farmers. On-farm consultations concerning specialisttechnical assistance needs to be identified by the farmer and their consultants working together to develop a business plan. Participating farmers share the process from their point of view, and share their overall evaluation of the Farm Viability Enhancement. Presenters: Richard A. LeVitre, University of Vermont Extension; Allen Matthews, UVM Center for Sustainable Agriculture; Ethan Parke, Vermont Housing Conservation Board; R. David Smith, Farm Viability Institute, Cornell; Participating farmers Ecopreneurship in Rural America: Strategies for Creating Environmental Enterprises. This roundtable conversation session will examine strategies for assisting rural eco-entrepreneurs who are actively creating more environmentally sustainable business practices and innovating greenbusiness products and services. While there has been some interest in eco-entrepreneurshipin both Europe and the United States, there has been limited research on the development of outreach programs aimed at assisting rural entrepreneurs trying to launch green business enterprises. This roundtable discussion will attempt to clarify the most important conceptual and programmatic issues facing those conducting research or developing outreach programming in this emergent field of study. Presenters: Dr. Frank X. Higdon, University Park, PA; Dr. Jack Matson, University Park, PA Growing Home: Food and Agriculture-Based Entrepreneurship in the Context of Community. Drawing on examples from the food and agriculture arena, this session will address the importance of pursuing entrepreneurship development in the context of overall community-level development. Participants will: Be introduced to the concept of "food and agriculture-based community development"; learn about examples of food and ag-based entrepreneurship in the context of community; and learn about limitations to indicators designed to measure food and ag-based rural development, and how these limitations impact the way entrepreneurship development is supported. Presenters: Heidi Mouillesseaux-Kunzman, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Integrating Agriculture into Community Development. In this session Duncan Hilchey of Cornell introduces 2 projects that combine increasing the profitability of local farms with building local economies. Topics include an introduction to Market Scapes, a GIS technology that maps regional food systems as well as a look at the potential for creating agricultural heritage areas. Presenter: Duncan Hilchey, Community, Food, and Agriculture Program, Cornell University Cultivating Agency Collaboration to Encourage Farm Business Planning. Presenters will address how several agencies and non-profit organizations are collaborating to encourage business planning among farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs. Through collaboration, service providers have been able to leverage financial resources and staff capacity, bring to the table a diversity of expertise, and extend outreach to clients through a business planning course for agricultural entrepreneurs. The session will include a facilitated discussion on the challenges and opportunities to multi-agency collaboration to serve farm clients. Participants of the workshop will be encouraged to share their experiences working in collaboration with other groups. Presenters: Deb Heleba, UVM Extension / Center for Sustainable Agriculture; Steve Paddock, Vermont Small Business Development Center, Brian Norder, Vermont Food Venture Center Mary Peabody, UVM Extension Specialist Community Resources & Economic Development & Director, Women's Agricultural Network 617 Comstock Road, Suite 5 Berlin, VT 05602-9194 Phone: 802-223-2389 extension 13 or tollfree: 866-860-1382 extension 13 Fax: 802-223-6500 E-mail: [log in to unmask] "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." Anais Nin