About the North Central USDA Regional Food Business Center
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One of 12 Centers in the U.S.
with 35 unique partners
serving 3 states - MN, ND, SD.
Meet the Partners
Minnesota
North Dakota
South Dakota
East Central Regional Development Commission
Headwaters Regional Development Commission
Latino Economic Development Center
Mid-Minnesota Development Commission
Northwest Regional Development Commission
Region Five Development Commission
Region Nine Development Commission
Southwest Regional Development Commission
Upper Minnesota Valley River Regional Development Commission
Lake Agassiz Development Group
North Central Planning Council
ND Rural Electric Cooperative Foundation
ND Local Foods Development Alliance & FARRMS
Roosevelt Custer Regional Council for Dev.
Central South Dakota Enhancement District
Planning and Development District III
First District Association of Local Governments
Northeast Council of Governments
Black Hills Council of Local Governments
Value Added Agriculture Development Center
Technical Assistance Providers are listed in bold font.
See Roles below for more details.
Roles
Hover over each box to learn more!
Statewide Coordinators
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Hold meetings with experts, evaluators, and special guests to improve support for farmers and food businesses.
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Take notes to gather valuable information for making improvements.
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Organize annual Summits to share best practices, projects, challenges, and opportunities.
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Main focus is to help TA providers have resources to deliver targeted assistance to underserved farmers, processors, distributors, and others in the food supply chain.
Statewide Coordinators
Regional Technical Assistance Providers
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Develop a regional action plan that will include implementation and funding plan.
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Value chain/supply chain coordination, including networking and peer-to-peer sharing.
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Assist smaller-scale food producers and food and farm businesses in the middle of the supply chain in identifying and navigating third party financial assistance, particularly from federal, state, tribal, and other sources.
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Write grant applications.
Regional Technical Assistance Providers
Evaluator Partners
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Develop and monitor the Evaluation Plan.
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Take the lead in compiling data for USDA AMS Semi-annual reports to capture information about the Regional Food Center’s operation as a whole and from Coordinators, TA Providers, and Business Builder sub-award recipients.
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Interview Business Builder Sub-awardees and TA providers to share impacts through qualitative storytelling.
Evaluator Partners
Advisory Technical Assistance Providers
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Conduct outreach to communities and regional businesses.
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Secure a representative for grant review committee.
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Provide one recorded Zoom workshop per year.
Advisory Technical Assistance Providers
