Heartland Regional Food Business Center
The Local Foods Transdisciplinary Team within K-State Research and Extension is serving as a partner organization with the Heartland Regional Food Business Center (HRFBC). The HRFBC is lead by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and includes 13 partner organizations and other collaborating organizations. It serves 5 states (Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma) and northwest Arkansas. The Heartland Regional Food Business Center is one of 12 centers established by USDA in 2023 that are designed to provide coordination, technical assistance, and capacity building, for food and farm businesses. The mission of the Heartland Regional Food Business Center is to help farm and food enterprises develop local and regional food businesses and markets. Partners of these efforts provide assistance from startup through growth, and also support supply chain connections.
As a partner in the HRFBC, the K-State Research and Extension team aims to:
- Hire two food systems entrepreneurial resource navigators
- Host two Edible Food Business Startup Summits
- Provide Professional Development Scholarships for business trainings
- Develop a magazine publication to highlight local food systems efforts
- Work with collaborating organizations to:
- Provide workshops and 1-1 business technical assistance (KS Small Business Development Center)
- Provide training on compliance, licensing, and permitting, training on marketing and access to From the Land of Kansas trademark program (KS Dept of Agriculture)
- Provide business support to food-based business operators (Shop KS Farms)
- Provide business support to processed-food based businesses (KS Value Added Foods Lab)
Our Collaborators:
- Kansas Department of Agriculture
- Kansas Small Business Development Center
- Kansas Value-Added Foods Lab
- Shop Kansas Farms
For more information on the Heartland Regional Food Business Center, click here, https://heartlandfoodbusiness.org/about/.
Questions? Email heartlandrfbc@ksu.edu.