Non Technical Summary
The goal of this project is to establish and operate the Southwest Virginia Abribusiness Success Center (Center) within Appalachian Sustainable Devleopment's (ASD's) Appalachian Harvest Food and Herb Hub. The Center will create jobs in Rural Areas by developing new food and agriculture businesses and expanding existing ones. Building on ASD's 30 year history in the Appalachian region and leveraging existing crtical componentswill ensure a rapid and successful launch. Because a trained workforce is often a limiting factor in business growth, the pipeline our workforce development program provides is strategically designed to support participating entrepreneurs.The Center goals are to provide workspace for technical service providers and entrepreneurs, access to aggregation and distribution infrastructure, and Kickstarter awards to help businesses which are ready to expand or launch. By adding functional workspace, local value-added producers, herbalists, and small to medium sized farmers and ranchers can scale up their operations in a conveniently located space. By co-locating business development workspace in the existing warehouse, participants have convenient access to aggreagation and distribution with space to conduct business planning, marketing, sales, and coordination of activities to grow their business. Being on site will enable them to access and interact regularly with ASD's business support team while also interacting and learning from each other.With support from ASD's team of agriculture business professionals, operating in a dedicated business development center, located within an aggregation and distribution space, these small business startups will have the resources they need to launch or grow a successful enterprise.

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
903	0001	3010	100%

Knowledge Area
903 - Communication, Education, and Information Delivery;

Subject Of Investigation
0001 - Administration;

Field Of Science
3010 - Economics;

Goals / Objectives
Goal 1: Provide a physical space for rural agriculture entrepreneurs and established businesses to access business support services in Central Appalachia.Southwest Virginia Business Success Center successfully launched40 businesses accessing the Southwest Virginia Business Success Center by the end of 2026One (1) Co-Op supported or established with support from Center resources10 LLC businesses supported by Center services5 rural groups supportedGoal 2: Provide direct technical assistance to businesses in the agriculture sector to expand, improve, and sustain their operations.35 business plans created or edited10 jobs created or saved as a result of Center activities15 feasibility studies completed30 workshops/seminars conductedGoal 3: Provide businesses with critical short-term funds to support expansion into new markets by supporting critical measures such as marketing, branding, and certification.24 Kickstarter awards distributed to businesses to meet critical needs ($5500 each)Goal 4: Develop critical partnerships to maintain agriculture business development beyond the lifetime of the grant.Long-term partnership with ARC&D established to support entrepreneur education

Project Methods
Efforts: Efforts for this program include but are not limited to: create marketing and development plans; initiate and maintain ongoing Kickstarter Program recruitment cycles; review ongoing Kickstarter Program fund submissions; host numerous Business Development workshops; hold numerous partner-led workshops on business development (securing investment, access to capital, etc.); hold partner meetings with Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee partners; enroll participants in additional ASD programming (food safety, GAP, etc.); begin individual business consultations with ASD and partner staff; initiate and maintain ongoing disbursement of Kickstarter awards.Evaluation: Evaluation of these outcomes will be done quarterly. The staff team for this project will review businesses supported, traffic, reported knowledge change, and other business outcomes as related to Center goals. These evaluations will be used to tailor the curriculum that follows to address continuing gaps in understanding and still-needed critical skills for business receiving services.