OSU Food Innovation Center and The Food Corridor are excited to announce our key partnership in the newly announced Northwest and Rocky Mountain Regional Food Business Center. The two agencies will co-lead the theme priority of Connecting and Scaling Food Entrepreneurs. Ashley Colpaart of The Food Corridor and Sarah Masoni of the Food Innovation Center will co-lead this theme. Their combined experiences with food entrepreneurship make them a powerful team. Lauren Gwin; Interim Director OSU’s Center for Small Farms & Community Food Systems, is OSU’s lead for the new, 6-state center.
The Northwest and Rocky Mountain Regional Food Business Center is co-led by Colorado State University and Oregon State University and will work across the western states of Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. The new center will serve as a central node for the region’s small and mid-tier food and farm business and local and regional food sector development initiatives by supporting cross-regional collaboration, providing, and analyzing relevant and timely data, and serving as a gateway for USDA programs and other third-party funding opportunities.
The Northwest and Rocky Mountain Regional Food Business Center will support farm, ranch, and food businesses, as well as broader supply chain development through technical assistance, capacity building through direct investment, staff capacity, and information resources and coordination via strategic sharing and coordinated action. The Center plans to provide foundational business development support for small and mid-sized farm and food businesses participating in local and regional food sectors. Our programs will focus on four themes that are high-priority for our region:
1. resilient animal protein supply chains,
2. connecting and scaling food entrepreneurs,
3. expanding and diversifying markets for climate-resilient agricultural products,
4. right-sizing infrastructure and investment.
One regional leadership team, six state teams (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming), the four theme teams, and a cohort of food sector leaders from underserved audiences will help to frame and engage with all initiatives and provide shared governance at all levels of the center. Together these teams will guide technical assistance, coordination, and capacity-building efforts. Over a quarter of the Center’s resources will be allocated to Business Builder awards for farm or food businesses that need capital to launch and expand their businesses.