Registration is open for the Plan or Improve Your Food Business 4-part series that kicks off February 13th. This includes a session dedicated to getting recipes approved (who, when, where, how) which is a popular topic. Once registered, folks can attend one or more of the 4 online sessions. There’s also an optional in-person meal and tour at the close of the series.

Each webinar focuses on a particular facet of managing a food business. While it’s impossible to cover every unique circumstance, these sessions tackle the most common questions Extension fields from entrepreneurs considering value-added production. Sessions are held online 6:00-7:30 pm and each includes a presentation, activity for the group, plus resources to learn more after each session including recorded conversations with other small NYS food entrepreneurs. The course is led by M. Flip Filippi, who is the Harvest Kitchen Manager and Local Foods Program Leader at Extension. Her focus is offering custom advice to entrepreneurs looking to create value-added products. Flip strives to create a welcoming learning environment while simplifying the multi-layered regulatory and financial planning aspects of food entrepreneurship. She has completed Food Safety Manager’s Training, Better Process Control School for Acidified Products, Holistic Financial Planning, FSMA Regulations for Small Food Producers, Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training, and Master Food Preserver trainings.

The series kicks off on February 13 and finishes March 6. The topics for each session are:
1. Understanding Food Business Types
2. Estimating Costs of Starting a Food Business
3. Recipe Approvals, Record Keeping, and Food Safety
4. Creating Effective and Legal Product Labels.
5. Plus, all participants are invited to an in-person closing event at the Harvest Kitchen at the Extension Learning Farm in Canton on March 13th to enjoy a meal together, connect with other food entrepreneurs, and experience a mock kitchen inspection.

An entrepreneur who took part in last year’s program shared, “The course was well-balanced in terms of presentation, group discussion, and shared resources for further work. I loved getting to meet the different producers and hear their plans. Having real life examples made all of the licensing requirements, etc. make more sense. The class was an appropriate amount of time to get everyone going in the right direction. Also, the interviews with the producers and NYS food authorities were such an awesome resource and really brought all the information down to earth in an easy, understandable way.”

The registration fee is $25 for the entire online course.
Learn more and register here: http://stlawrence.cce.cornell.edu/.