The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

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October 30, 2009

Workshop offers tips for people who want to start food business

By Erin Cuprinka

MERCER COUNTY — Have you ever been told that your favorite homemade bread, or salsa, is “good enough to sell?” Do you have additional fruit or vegetables from your farm or home garden that you would like to make into a commercial product?

Penn State Cooperative Extension is offering a Food for Profit workshop in the evening. This 2 1/2-hour workshop is designed to help you work through the maze of local and state regulations, food safety issues, and business management concepts that must be considered in setting up a commercial food business.

How can Food for Profit help me?

Food for Profit will take you step-by-step through the entrepreneurial process. It will provide you with the information and skills to assess if your idea will be something that will sell at a profit.

Conducting a feasibility study to see if yours is a good business idea, performing marketing research and beginning to draft a business plan are a few of the concrete tools taught by certified instructors and business experts.

By attending this class, you can learn how to evaluate the opportunities on paper before you look for funding or take action, saving both money and time.

Who should attend?

If you want to develop the skills to be innovative and visionary in your business – to grow your food venture – you will enjoy and benefit from this course. If you’re searching for innovative ideas about how to get your enterprise off the ground, this program is for you.

Registration information:

Food for Profit will be sponsored by the Future of Agriculture in Crawford County and will take place from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. Nov. 18 at the Penn Northwest Professional Center, 749 Greenville Road, near Mercer. The tuition cost of $15 per person includes all materials and refreshments.

For a registration form, contact me at emh142@psu.edu or by calling 724-662-3141. Questions about the content of this workshop may be directed to Extension Educator Winifred McGee, wwm1@psu.edu, 717-270-4391.



Erin Cuprinka is an educator with Mercer County Cooperative Extension.

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