Advice to New Entrepreneurs in Agriculture
John Hyre, executive director of Hickory Ridge Farm and Preston County Workshop, gave us great advice to new entrepreneurs who listen to our podcast.
West Virginia Resources That Can Help Your Business
When you are starting out in developing your business, you should use all of the resources around you. West Virginia resources such as the Small Business Association (SBA) and the Department of Agriculture could benefit you.
Allegheny Genesis: Networking to Build Your Business
When starting a new business, sometimes, it can be about who you know, instead of what you know (networking to build your business). Jordon Masters, CEO and founder of Allegheny Genesis Holdings LLC and Micro Produce, knows this to be true.
Micro Produce was founded under the shared principles of its parent company Allegheny Genesis LLC to promote seasonal sustainability by encompassing the beauty of the Allegheny Mountains and their importance to the lives of those who live here.
Micro Produce promotes sustainable agriculture by devoting time and resources to further research in sustainable greenhouse operations. The management and operational team behind Micro Produce consists of both professional chefs and horticulturists, working together to expand culinary arts and scientific research by stretching the limits of agricultural productivity.
Masters was a guest on The Positively West Virginia Podcast where he shared advice about taking a chance for your business and taking advantage of the network around you.
Sponsoring Community Development: Natural Capital Investment Fund
For small businesses to grow, they need to be invested in. Natural Capital Investment Fund (NCIF), located in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, finances and advises small to mid-sized enterprises, primarily in rural and underserved communities across a nine-state region, to build locally-owned companies that create lasting jobs and community development. NCIF borrowers build local food systems, conserve energy and water, support ecotourism and find creative outlets for recycled materials and provide essential community services.
Marten Jenkins, President and CEO of NCIF, talked with Positively West Virginia Podcast host, Jim Matuga, about the importance of funding small businesses and what owners can be doing to build their success.
Brother & Sister Duo Start Successful Salt Works Business
When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. Well, when life gives you an ancient ocean trapped below the Appalachian Mountains of Kanawha Valley in West Virginia, you start a salt works business. That’s exactly what brother and sister, Nancy Bruns and Lewis Payne, seventh generation salt-makers, did.
J.Q. Dickinson Salt Works salt is naturally derived and completely organic. Bruns was a guest on the Positively West Virginia Podcast and shared a few pieces of advice she’s lived by since starting the business with her brother.
Achieve Success in the Agriculture Business with West Virginia Resources
Family Roots Farm owner, Britney Hervey Farris, worked hard to achieve success in the agriculture business by engaging with a local West Liberty mentor and WVU Extension services.
The four elements below helped her on her business journey.