Starting in February: Free, Virtual Workshops for New and Growing Food and Farming Businesses

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension Community Food Systems Program will provide no-cost virtual workshops for small-scale food and farming business start-ups during Mondays from February 10th to March 17th, 2025.

The sessions will cover topics such as:

navigating business resources,
food licensing,
finding and starting shared-use kitchens for food processing,
cooperative land access, and
sustainable business marketing.

“We are proud to announce our fifth annual FEED Webinar Series. Every year, we learn more about how to best support all of Wisconsin’s inspiring food and farming entrepreneurs. This webinar series helps entrepreneurs better navigate the diverse array of resources available here in Wisconsin,” said Jessica Jane Spring (previously Spayde), Food Entrepreneurship Specialist at the Community Food Systems Program at UW-Madison Extension.

February 10, 2025 from 2:00 to 3:00 pm – Finding a Kitchen for Your Value-Added Food Processing. Join us for this webinar if you’re an entrepreneur looking for a shared-use kitchen or if you run a kitchen for which you’d like to find tenants. We’ll hear from entrepreneurs who have used shared-use kitchens about their stories and challenges. We’ll also hear about the online directory of shared-use kitchens called The Kitchen Door.

February 17, 2025 from 2:00 to 3:00 pm – Starting a Shared Use Kitchen. Are you interested in starting a shared-use kitchen for food and farming businesses looking to rent commercial kitchen space? Join us for a discussion between a panel of organizations who are planning to build shared-use kitchens in Wisconsin, and shared-use kitchen resource providers like The Food Corridor, a software platform to help you coordinate your shared-use kitchen. (Stay tuned for the demo webinar for The Food Corridor platform).

February 24, 2025 from 2:00 to 3:00 pm – Food Safety in Wisconsin: Mobile and Transient Retail Food Establishment Licenses and Guidelines for Sampling. Are you looking for guidelines on sampling your product and obtaining a retail food license? Join us to hear from Licensing Specialist Charlie Bloom. He will guide you through the process of obtaining mobile and transient licenses from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP) and provide guidelines for sampling your product.

(Bonus Webinar!) February 25, 2025 from 12:00 to 1:00 pm – Demo of The Food Corridor Kitchen Management Software for FEED Participants. Are you looking for a way to manage the daily operations of your shared-use kitchen? Join us for this bonus webinar on February 25th at 12:00 PM to learn more about The Food Corridor’s Kitchen Management Software. The Food Corridor will guide you through how their software platform helps with daily tasks such as scheduling, billing, and more.

March 3, 2025 from 2:00 to 3:00 pm – Navigating Wisconsin Free Business Resources. Are you looking for business development help to start or grow your Wisconsin food or farming businesses? Join this webinar to learn about several of the great (FREE) business resources we have available in Wisconsin. Invited resources include the organizations who joined us at the 2024 FEED Summit in Milwaukee. (Note, if you’d like to be included in this type of webinar, please contact Jessica at foodsystems@extension.wisc.edu to learn how!)

March 10, 2025 from 2:00 to 3:00 pm – How Can a Cooperative Business Structure Make Farmland More Accessible in Wisconsin? Are you a farmer looking to share farmland for your agricultural production? Join this webinar to hear about the work of Extension’s Center for Cooperatives and Community Development to help make land access more affordable and accessible to more of our Wisconsin residents. Mia Ljung, Community Development Extension Educator, and Kelly Maynard, Cooperative Development Specialist, will share their progress in creating “A Guide to Farmland Co-op Development.”

March 17, 2025 from 2:00 to 3:00 pm – Developing Marketing Strategies for Sustainable Business Growth: The Case of Maple Producers. Explore how maple producers integrate both traditional and digital marketing strategies to create seamless and cohesive brand experiences for customers. Learn how to craft a compelling brand identity, maximize visibility across multiple channels, build meaningful customer relationships, optimize sales opportunities, and foster a loyal community. By employing a holistic approach to marketing, producers can enhance their brand’s visibility, increase customer engagement, and build a sustainable business.

All workshops are free to the public and will be hosted on Zoom. Registration for the event is available online at: https://go.wisc.edu/x42633. Visit the FEED Webinar Series homepage at: https://go.wisc.edu/7228t5.

For additional information about the workshops email Jessica Jane Spayde, Food Entrepreneurship Specialist at the Community Food Systems Program at the UW-Madison Division of Extension, at foodsystems@extension.wisc.edu.

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