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| Tiffany Henry, director of SCC’s Small Business Center, participates in a group-breakout session during the 2016 Appalachian Farm School in Bryson City, N.C. |
Considering the geography of Western North Carolina, land suited for agriculture comes at a premium.
That’s why Southwestern Community College and its partners consider it vital to provide training and resources for the men and women who farm those precious and vital acres.
Historically underserved when it comes to education and training, farmers in Jackson, Macon, Swain Counties and the Qualla Boundary are now annually able to attend the Appalachian Farm School. Coordinated by SCC’s Small Business Center in partnership with N.C. Cooperative Extension and the N.C. Department of Agriculture, the Appalachian Farm School is an eight-week series of training seminars for new and existing small-to-medium-size farms.
The training is held at SCC’s Swain Center and strategically scheduled to be completed before the region’s farming season begins.
“Through conversations with various businesspeople in our region, it became clear to me that ‘agripreneurs’ historically had very few resources available to help grow their businesses,” said Tiffany Henry, director of SCC’s Small Business Center. “We wanted to bring this segment of our community together in a way that would promote economic development and sustainability.”
Henry worked with the NCCE, NCDA, Western North Carolina Food Policy Council, Western Carolina University’s Public Policy Institute and local businesses TenBiz and Riddle Design to plan the first six-week program for area farmers.
The first Appalachian Farm School started four weeks later with 22 participants – 16 of whom were under the age of 40. Seven were vendors at area farmer’s markets, two were wholesale farmers and six were new to the profession.
The North Carolina Community College System Small Business Center Network honored Henry and the Appalachian Farm School with its Innovation Award for Services and Collaboration.
“Because of this new program, nearly two dozen farming agripreneurs were supported in their ventures through education, networking opportunities and local support,” Henry said. “We received an overwhelmingly positive response from participants about the content, resources and support they gleaned from this training. They also provided some recommendations on how to make the program even more valuable.”
Those suggestions were put into action this past winter when the second Appalachian Farm School kicked off in mid-January with 20 participants.
Henry secured a grant of $5,500 from the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina for the 2016 school. The grant money was used to provide training, resources and support for farmers, value-added processors, market growers and other supplemental income streams in agriculture – all while identifying, connecting and promoting all regional efforts and working with partners toward a long-term strategy for food system development.
"I learned a lot,” said Johnathan Dean, who attended the 2016 Appalachian Farm School. “It’s a valuable experience for any farmer. We touched on numerous topics that made me think about many of the pieces to running a successful business. Classmates and I were provided instruction, training materials, reference materials, in person connections with local cooperative extension agents & NRCS agents, and time to network with other local farmers. I would recommend this course to anyone whether you are planning to start a business, just started a business or have been in business for a long time. It provides you the information and contacts you need to make your business a success."
