FEED Initiative, UW-Madison Extension

If you missed any of the virtual events from the 2025 spring FEED Webinar Series, watch them now on our YouTube channel! This year, the topics were "Food Safety Licenses, Transient, Mobile, Sampling," "Starting a Shared Use Kitchen," "Finding a Kitchen and Space for Your Value-Added Food Business," "Navigating Wisconsin Business Resources," "How Business Cooperatives Can Help Entrepreneurs Access Farmland," and "Developing Marketing Strategies for Sustainable Business Growth: The Case of Maple Producers." Find all six sessions at youtube.com/

Join us today at 2pm for the final FEED webinar of 2025! Explore how maple producers integrate both traditional and digital marketing strategies to create seamless and cohesive brand experiences for customers. Zachary Smith, Agricultural Business Educator at UVM Extension and Tony Johnson, Forestry Outreach Specialist for UW-Madison Extension, will share how to craft a compelling brand identity, maximize visibility across multiple channels, build meaningful customer relationships, optimize sales opportunities, and foster a loyal community. Find details at our website: https://go.wisc.edu/7228t5 and register asap: https://go.wisc.edu/x42633

Join us on Monday, March 3, for the next FEED webinar! 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 (and sometimes free!) business resources we have available from Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP), Food Finance Institute, Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, SCORE Mentors SE Wisconsin, Madison Public Library, and The Network for Health Technology and Innovation. Find details at our website: https://go.wisc.edu/7228t5 and register asap: https://go.wisc.edu/x42633

Join us on Monday, February 24, for the next FEED webinar!
Are you an entrepreneur looking for a shared-use kitchen, or do you run a commercial kitchen? Join this webinar to hear from Erly Barajas, owner of Colombian Flavors, and Jackson Mankowski, owner of The Porch. They will share insights about their collaboration, with The Porch offering drinks and entertainment and Colombian Flavors providing food in their shared space in De Pere, WI. Hear about their working history and collaboration in this FEED webinar. Find details at our website: https://go.wisc.edu/7228t5 and register asap: https://go.wisc.edu/x42633

Join us on Monday, February 17, for the next FEED spring webinar! 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 - and stay tuned for the demo webinar for The Food Corridor platform. Find details at our website: https://go.wisc.edu/7228t5 and register asap: https://go.wisc.edu/x42633

Join us on Monday for the first of the annual FEED spring webinar series! 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. Find details at our website: https://go.wisc.edu/7228t5 and register asap: https://go.wisc.edu/x42633

We are so excited to announce the schedule for the annual FEED spring webinar series! This series of no-cost virtual workshops is a great fit for small-scale food and farming business start-ups. This year, join us on Mondays from February 10th to March 17th, 2025 to learn more about navigating business resources, food licensing, finding and starting shared-use kitchens for food processing, cooperative land access, sustainable business marketing, and more! Find details at our website: https://go.wisc.edu/7228t5 and register asap: https://go.wisc.edu/x42633

Thank you so much to everyone who attended and contributed to the 2024 FEED Summit! We had a fantastic time. Stay tuned for upcoming information about the annual FEED Webinar series starting in February - virtual and free!

FEED Summit Fosters Connections in the Wisconsin Food Entrepreneur Community – Food Tank The recent FEED Summit in Wisconsin fostered connections and collaboration for a stronger local food system.

Shout-out to one of our great sponsors for the 2024 FEED Summit: the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development! USDA Rural Development helps improve the economy in rural America through programs by supporting loans to businesses and offering technical assistance and information. Find their table in the Exhibitor Hall at the FEED Summit, happening next week! Learn more about the FEED Summit at go.wisc.edu/62371s and register ASAP at go.wisc.edu/h8ya16