Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute Small Business Center, Watauga County Cooperative Extension, the High Country Workforce Development Board, and Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture announce the 2014 Agripreneur (Agriculture Entrepreneurship) series beginning Thursdays in January 2014 from 6-8pm. Through this free four-part series, attendees will receive business and marketing instruction specific to farm operations. 

The Agriculture-Entrepreneurship Series provides education to entrepreneurs who want to begin a farming business and to farmers wanting to transform their farm into a thriving business.  The 4-part series includes real-world scenarios and hands-on activities. Each session features an education session, facilitated by Arlene Childers, along with a local agriculture expert guest speaker.  Registering for all four workshops is highly recommended.


Register for workshops individually at www.cccti.edu/smallbusiness. Descriptions and speaker bios can be found at www.brwia.org/agripreneur. For more information contact Evelyn Asher at [email protected] or 828-297-8121.    

Boone, North Carolina – Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture announces a Grant Writing Workshop on Tuesday, November 19 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Join Willa Mays, experienced grant writer and Chief Development Officer of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, as she instructs on how to write successfully for grants available to diversifying or sustainable farms in the High Country. Representatives from Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture, Blue Ridge Seeds of Change, and WNC AgOptions will be present to discuss their grant cycles this year.

There are a wide variety of grants available to farms in the High Country, but conveying ideas into a successful application can be challenging. This workshop will provide attendees with the skills to clearly communicate and explain their ideas in grant applications. Topics covered by Willa Mays’s presentation include: finding grants, appropriate writing, budgeting and reporting.

Following the presentation, attendees will have the opportunity to consult with three different granting organizations and past grant winners. WNC AgOptions, Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture, and Blue Ridge Seeds of Change all have grant applications that are open or will open in the fall or winter.

“We’re excited about the experts who will be joining us for this workshop.” states Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture’s executive director, Sarah Myers, adding “It can be a challenge to tell your story succinctly and effectively to funders, and this is an opportunity to receive guidance around how to do so. I expect the workshop will be the start of a number of great conversations”

The workshop is free and participants must register by November 18. Class size is limited, so register early to reserve a spot. Go to http://www.brwia.org/grant-writing to register. Class will be held at the Agricultural Conference Center, 252 Poplar Grove Rd. Boone.