Year 21 No. 10
OCT 2013
“BIKE THRU” COFFEE
The Wailing Goat Espresso settles into “Alley District” business community [10]
THE SEEDS OF BUSINESS
After one decade, a high success rate for program helping farms to market BY EVAN MARCZYNSKI The Bellingham Business Journal
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fter deciding to start a small farm in Whatcom County, Ephraim and Laura Kurszewski knew that growing crops would only be part of the challenge. To get a handle on the commercial side of the endeavor, they turned to a business training program for local farmers called Food To Bank On, run by the Bellingham-based nonprofit Sustainable Connections. “We just decided to dive in,” Ephraim Kurszewski said. Having just wrapped up their third season on the farm, which they named The Carrot and Stick after opening in 2011, the Kurszewskis see signs of a promising future. They sold 30 shares this summer in a community-supported agriculture program, where members buy into the farm at the beginning of the growing season, then later collect shares of the harvest. The Carrot and Stick grows a variety of produce, including carrots, beans, tomatoes and squash. Demand was high enough that the Kurszewskis were actually forced to turn away a number of prospective members. Ephraim said they don’t want to expand faster than they can manage. “We’ve grown at the rate we’ve wanted to grow, so that’s really satisfying, that there’s that level of support in the community,” he said. Success is not uncommon for Food To Bank On participants. Nearing the end of its 10th year in existence, 37 farmers
theBUZZ Enrollment opens for health exchange Individuals can now shop online and sign up for new health care plans under the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as “Obamacare.” State insurance exchanges opened across the nation on Oct. 1. [9]
Strike delays classes at Bellingham Tech A faculty and staff work stoppage set the start of fall classes back one week at BTC. After picket lines, a failed court injunction and a series of mediated negotiations, the college and employee unions were able to agree on new contract terms. More coverage is online at BBJToday.com.
County’s jobless rate drops to 6.5 percent Laura Kurszewski of The Carrot and Stick farm in Whatcom County prepares flower bundles for CSA shareholders. (Right) Buckets of beans await washing and packing.
EVAN MARCZYNSKI PHOTOS THE BELLINGHAM BUSINESS JOURNAL
(excluding current first-year participants) have gone through the three-year program. Of those, 29 are still operating today, and 18 have taken on the more challenging business of selling their crops on the wholesale market. Sara Southerland, the food and farming program coordinator
at Sustainable Connections, has managed the Food To Bank On program for the past three years. She said the goal of the program is to support a stronger, more viable and more diverse sustainable food system. But its focus on helping beginning farmers establish sound business prin-
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31st Annual
ciples has been a major contributor to its success, she said. Food To Bank On pairs participants with more established mentors in the local agricultural community. Participating farmers are given business-plan training, and the program focuses on specifics such as developing strong day-to-day efficiency and longrange planning, Southerland said. A six-member committee of mentor farmers reviews the applicants and selects new participants in the program each year. They look for new additions who have basic farming skills and have begun farming for at least one year, Southerland said. “We’re trying to catch farms in
Private-sector job gains continue, though total workforce growth remains stagnant. [8]
Inside this month’s Business Toolkit Making sense of Twitter lists for your company’s marketing needs. [14] When collaboration makes more sense than competition. [15] See BUZZ, Page 3
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See SEEDS, Page 22
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