The free 12-week Emerging Business Program is designed for farmers, value-added producers, and CPG companies at a unique, often-overlooked stage of development. Through a combination of classroom instruction and individual counseling, you’ll acquire the knowledge and strategies you need to move forward with your business goals.
The Emerging Business Program combines classroom training with one-on-one consulting, helping you identify challenges and put systematic processes in place to facilitate growth.
The Emerging Program accepts participants on a rolling basis, meaning that you can join an in-progress cohort at any time before the end! Our current cohort ends May 22, with all meetings taking place via Zoom on Wednesdays from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Here’s an overview of the program curriculum.
During our first session, we’ll spend some time getting to know each other before addressing some of the common business pitfalls and issues that restrict growth. We’ll also help you set business priorities and goals, and give you a foundation for the strategic planning you’ll be doing. After this first class, you’ll begin your weekly mentoring calls.
This week, you’ll strengthen your understanding of the key competencies and resources you’ll need to operate your business more efficiently and effectively. Along the way, you’ll learn about some of the processes and systems to put in place for future growth.
Hiring the right people is paramount for business success. During this session, you’ll learn about identifying and targeting the needs of your business team, and developing a strong team culture.
This week, you’ll develop a stronger understanding of the relationship between capital and opportunity, as well as how to make decisions based on key numbers. Mastering these tools will help you evaluate opportunities, make positive business decisions, and improve efficiency and profitability.
During this session, we’ll cover some strategies for outsourcing, including how to find the right partners for your business needs. Afterwards, you’ll learn how to build your outsourcing strategy.
Managing your operation can be stressful! During this session, you’ll learn how to avoid pitfalls by exploring the principles of continuous improvement and operational excellence. We’ll also cover how to use data to find the root cause of problems, and some of the basic skills you can use to solve them.
Understanding what’s happening in your market and industry can help you make wise decisions and identify potential issues. This week, we’ll explore ways to find and use market resources to track business and industry performance; you’ll also learn about using data for effective benchmarking.
Businesses have to plan for development and growth. During this session, we’ll look at some best practices to facilitate future growth, and cover some key reinvestment strategies for business development.
Effective businesses know about their customers’ behaviors. In this session, you’ll learn to assess your target market and competitive advantage. We’ll also cover strategies for developing an effective message, and for identifying the proper channels to reach and acquire customers.
During this session, we’ll cover strategies for targeting new markets. You’ll learn how you can effectively use segmentation, targeting, and positioning in your marketing efforts, and will discover ways to research new markets and products.
In order to maintain a good reputation with their customers, businesses have to prioritize quality, especially as they grow. During this session, we’ll provide you with tools that you can use to analyze and track quality measures.
As their companies grow, many business owners will find themselves feeling stressed and overwhelmed. During this final session, we’ll look at ways to identify the issues that can impact your health and jeopardize the effectiveness of your business. We’ll also focus on the common causes of business plateaus, and discuss strategies for continued growth.
The Emerging Business Program is designed for farmers, value-added producers, and consumer packaged goods (CPG) company owners in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. To see if it might be the right fit for you, ask yourself the following questions:
If you answered yes to any of these questions, consider applying to the Emerging Business Program! You must also meet the following criteria:
Brian Brown
Brian Brown has been an economic development professional for 20 years, holding leadership roles in the areas of security, media, real estate, architecture, and engineering. Currently, he serves as the Chesapeake Agriculture Innovation Center’s lead business consultant, and as a mentor in our Producers Growth Program. Mr. Brown is also the business development manager for the Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project (RCAP) Inc. Prior to that, he was the executive director of the Halifax Industrial Development Authority.
We estimate that the time commitment each week will be approximately four hours.
Mini-Grants up to $5,000 are available for:
– Market Research and Validation of Target Market
– Customer Acquisition
– Product Development Initiatives
– Food Safety Classes
Eligibility
Value-added producers and companies with traction ($20,000 or more in yearly revenue) in Maryland and Delaware are eligible to apply for Mini-Grants. Participants may apply once for each of the categories. Applicants must demonstrate that they have a unique and differentiated product or service that incorporates an aspect of innovation or technology in its production, processing, distribution, or other element of the food supply system.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Award decisions will be made and funds will be available no later than three weeks following the receipt of a completed application.
Application Process
Applicants must submit Mini-Grant proposals by filling out the form at this link. Copy(ies) of quote(s), proposal(s), estimate(s), or any other supporting documents.
CAIC offers access to Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) who can offer authoritative advice based on their deep knowledge and experience in a specific area. See the ADVISORS page of this Web site to learn more about the SMEs who are available to CAIC participants.
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