UW-Extension to farming entrepreneurs: Register for 2-day feed summit in Green Bay

GREEN BAY — UW-Madison Division of Extension Community Food Systems Program is partnering with Green Bay nonprofit New Food Forum to organize a 2-day summit for Wisconsin food and farming entrepreneurs. The 2023 FEED Summit will be held in-person Nov. 13-14. This year’s theme is: Adding Value to Your Food or Farming Business.

The Community Food Systems Program’s Food Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Development (FEED) Initiative is a statewide program of UW-Madison Extension that promotes food entrepreneurship training and network development for value-added producers and aspiring and small-scale food business operators. UW-Madison Extension’s outreach creates key connection points for families, communities, businesses, non-profit organizations, government, and more. Extension supports local volunteers and leaders to take action and serve as role models in their communities. Extension has a presence in every county in Wisconsin and in partnership with First Nations to make sure Wisconsinites have the latest research, best practices, and educational opportunities.

The local co-host for the 2023 FEED Summit is New Food Forum — “an initiative of food and health businesses and organizations working to grow the local food system and the relationships that support it.” They identify groups working on local food issues, strengthen relationships among these groups, create policy related to a regional food system, and recognize the national and global nature of the food system.

“We’re helping co-host the FEED Summit because supporting equitable access to food entrepreneurship resources is a key factor in developing economic resiliency and equity within a community,” said Amanda Chu, one of the founders of New Food Forum.

Extension and New Food Forum will kick off the statewide, in-person conference on Monday (Nov. 13th) morning at 8:30 a.m. with a Networking Breakfast, then the first Keynote at 9:30 a.m.

Breakout sessions will go in-depth into business topics ranging from business planning to finding funding to food safety. Breakout sessions will also include time for summit participants to ask the speakers questions. Additionally, participants will have several opportunities to meet directly with small business development professionals, including legal experts from the UW-Madison Law and Entrepreneurship Clinic. During the two full days of breakout sessions, networking breaks, and visiting exhibitor booths, summit participants will meet hundreds of other participants from across the state, including both service providers and other entrepreneurs.

On Tuesday, conference participants will have the opportunity to tell other participants about their product or business idea in the Entrepreneur Showcase.

The Entrepreneur Showcase is toward the end of the conference so that participants can use what they learn at the conference to prepare how to best showcase their products or ideas.

The FEED Summit networking dinner on Monday night will provide excellent networking opportunities for participants and will highlight Green Bay food entrepreneurs. The networking dinner will begin at 5:30 p.m. at a new event and commercial space opening this fall called “The Cannery” — a food hall space that includes Titletown Brewery and several restaurants in Downtown Green Bay. They’ll hear from The Startup Hub Manager Ron Franklin about The Cannery project and about the complementary Startup Week Wisconsin events in Green Bay from Nov. 14-18.

“In organizing this conference, we hold ourselves to high standards of quality and accessibility,” said Statewide Food Entrepreneurship Specialist, Jessica Jane Spayde. “The quality of speakers, sessions, and business experts at the FEED Summit are unrivaled in Wisconsin — and, thanks to our sponsors and exhibitors, we can offer this high-quality conference at an accessible price-point for beginning and new food entrepreneurs.”

Thanks to sponsors like Compeer, UW-Extension is able to offer participant registration starting at $75, increasing to $85 after Sept. 15. All are welcome to this learning, connecting, and promotional space to ‘Add Value’ to their food business.

Find more information on the FEED Summit homepage: https://go.wisc.edu/j40254.

A limited number of scholarships are available through our partnering organizations. For additional information about the FEED Summit email Extension Community Food Systems Food Entrepreneurship Specialist Jessica Jane Spayde at Spayde@wisc.edu.