Get a jump on grant applications across the Great Lakes Midwest: What you need to know webinar

June 20, 2024 12:30PM - 1:30PM

Registration Deadline: June 19, 2024 - 05:00PM


Contact: glm-rfbc@msu.edu

Join the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center for a webinar on June 20 to help prepare your food or farm business for upcoming grant applications. 

Get a jump on grant applications across the Great Lakes Midwest: What you need to know webinar

June 20, 2024, 12:30 PM EST | 11:30 AM CST

Register bit.ly/3RrjeiB

Some grants using federal funds require food and farm business owners to access the U.S. government System for Award Management website, SAM.gov. In this webinar on Thursday, June 20, 2024, 12:30 PM EST, 11:30 AM CST, Dan Cornelius of Yowela Farms and the Great Lakes Indigenous Law Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Aje Elliott of Workin’ Roots Farm in Detroit — two producers from the region who have been through the online process to obtain a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) — will share their tips and experiences. 

Jamie Rahrig and Julie Jesmer, both part of the Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems (CRFS) team supporting the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center, will also share about assistance and funding opportunities coming later in 2024. This includes the first phase of the Business Builder grant program for food and/or farm businesses in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin in late 2024. Over $10 million dollars will be distributed across the region to assistance providers and through the grant program over the next four years. 

Guest speakers:

  • Dan Cornelius, owner of Yowela Farms and a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, grows heritage Indigenous crops, raises animals, makes maple syrup, and harvests wild rice. His overall approach seeks to balance modern equipment with inspiration from traditional practices with no-and-minimal tillage for crop production and animals to help cycle nutrients. Dan is also the Outreach Program Manager for the University of Wisconsin Law School’s Great Lakes Indigenous Law Center and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, as well as serving as a judge on the Oneida Appellate Court.
  • Aje Elliott, Candius affectionately called Aje, is originally from Portland, OR. She now resides in Detroit, MI where she owns and operates Workin’ Roots Farm. Aje is a beginning farmer, food justice advocate, holistic health practitioner, certified herbalist, priestess, and mother of three.

Webinar hosts:

  • Jamie Rahrig coordinates assistance for food and farm businesses through the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center at Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems and is part of the MSU Product Center team. In her role, Jamie develops and manages programs in partnership with organizations across Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin. She helps bring business coaching to the businesses from farm to fork with a goal of providing equitable access to healthy and affordable food.
  • Julie Jesmer is the new Business Builder Grant Manager for the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center at CRFS. In this role she will be developing a process for distributing and identifying potential grantees for the Business Builder Awards.  This includes setting up and managing the application as well as the review and evaluation processes in cooperation with regional partners..   

Join us for this webinar on June 20, 2024, 12:30 PM EST, 11:30 AM CST on Zoom, to learn more about how to request a UEI for your business. This session will be recorded and shared for those who cannot attend. Register by June 19, 5 PM EST, 4 PM CST.

For more information, email glm-rfbc@msu.edu or visit glm-rfbc.msu.edu.

Additional instructions for obtaining a UEI are available for viewing including this recording from the U.S. General Services Administration.

 

About the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center  

The Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center is dedicated to offering coordination, technical assistance, and capacity building opportunities for small- to mid-sized or historically marginalized food and farm business entrepreneurs in support of a more resilient, diverse, and competitive food system. Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems (MI) coordinates the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center that is comprised of network coordinators – Chicago Food Policy Action Council (IL), Northwest Indiana Food Council (IN), Food Finance Institute of the University of Wisconsin System (WI), and the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and Food Systems – who seek to take a transformational, rather than transactional, approach. Learn more at glm-rfbc.msu.edu    

Support for the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center comes from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service Regional Food Business Centers Program. The 12 USDA Regional Food Business Centers support all 50 U.S. States and Territories, and are inclusive of all types of agricultural products produced locally or regionally.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider. USDA Non-Discrimination Statement 

Registration for this event has closed.