Looking to enhance your existing business advising to farm and food businesses? Join us for an in-person training with Mark Cannella.

Note: We are currently at capacity for the October 5 – 6, 2023 Training. We are looking to hold this training again in the future though, so we encourage you to fill out the interest form linked below still if you are interested in attending at a later date. Thank you for your interest in the Agricultural Viability Alliance’s Professional Development Opportunities!

WORKSHOP DETAILS

This opportunity for business advisors will improve your ability to produce high-quality financial statements. If you understand the basics of financial statements but want to progress your knowledge, this course is for you. In this course you will:

• Enhance your skills in working with farmers around financial management in ways that are effective and useful for farmers
• Increase knowledge of how to read into the statements in order to ask high impact and timely questions that enhances the technical assistance
• Be able to identify accurate, useful, and effective farm financial statements
• Be able to identify issues, errors, or omissions that make business records inaccurate and/or problematic for analysis
• Develop better understanding of lost-capital, what it is, when it occurs, and how it shows up (or not) on financial statements
• Increase understanding of metrics-ratios

This training will be taught through a combination of presentations, case studies, and interactive group activities.

How do I know if this course is right for me?

Participants should already be actively working as business advisers and involved in the preparation or review of financial statements. This training is not meant to be anyone’s introduction to financial statements, but it is appropriate for early and mid-career professionals. You should be actively working as a business advisor to farm and/or food businesses to attend this course, or as a business advisor looking to expand into working with farm and food businesses. Early and mid-career advisors with financial expertise but looking to develop deeper sector expertise with farm and food industry specific case studies and peers are also welcome to attend.

Participation Criteria

Advisors who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), serving businesses in New England and New York will receive priority attendance, should the course fill. Class size is limited to 18 participants.

LOGISTICS

Thursday and Friday October 5th & 6th, 2023

Thursday 9AM – 5PM
Friday 9AM – 2PM

Hitchcock Center for the Environment
845 West St, Amherst, MA 01002

Cost: Free

Attendees are responsible for their own travel and lodging costs.

A light breakfast, lunch, coffee and snacks will be provided throughout the two-day training. Dinner options will be organized for Thursday night, with opportunities for networking with course peers, and a farm visit.

It is recommended that if you are traveling from out of region, that you plan to stay over locally on Wednesday and Thursday evenings.

Trains and buses are available to Northampton, and taxis and carpooling are available. Please coordinate with achang@thecarrotproject.org upon registration if you need any travel or lodging assistance.

ABOUT THE TRAINER & ORGANIZERS

This course is organized by the Agricultural Viability Alliance and The Carrot Project in coordination with the Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust and Black Farmer Fund.

Thank you to our Agricultural Viability Alliance network members for ongoing participation in making these professional development opportunities happen in the Northeast!

Mark Cannella is Extension Associate Professor and Farm Business Management Specialist with UVM Extension. He has been working in the field of agriculture in Vermont for over ten years. He has managed farm operations in vegetable production, maple sugaring and agricultural education. His current focus is the management and delivery of farm business planning programs, business management trainings and farm economic research. Mark contributes to programs that serve a diverse audience of farm producers raising different products at different scales.

The Agricultural Viability Alliance connects farm, food and forestry viability advisors in New England and the Hudson Valley. These advisors work with farmers to build resilient businesses, access markets and farmland, execute business transitions, and achieve other goals. Regionally, we offer a community for advisors to access professional development and mentorship, so they can do their best work. Nationally, the Alliance brings advisors together to advance policy that ensures consistent funding for business assistance — so the groundbreaking work our network members have spearheaded for decades will be built into the sector long-term. The Alliance is hosted by The Carrot Project. Together, we work toward a just and resilient farm and food system, guided by our shared commitment to racial equity and an inclusive sector.

This event is not sponsored by the Hitchcock Center.

Interested in participating in this training? Please complete this form (link).