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Regional Food Enterprise Center Planned for CCE grounds in Lockport; public input sought

by jmaloni

Submitted

Thu, Aug 27th 2015 12:20 pm

Do you currently make a product (salsa, pasta, etc.) that you wish you could sell? Do you need help in starting or expanding your food business? Are you a farmer looking to offer value-added products?

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Niagara County is doing a feasibility study for a food enterprise center to be located at the grounds at CCE Niagara in Lockport. The proposed facility will serve small and mid-size farmers who are looking to do value-added products, food business entrepreneurs who want to develop new products for market, and also will be an outlet for community education. The center would potentially have a shared-use commercially licensed kitchen in which to prepare and package products. In addition, the center would be a resource center for farms and food business owners to access programs and services to support the grown of their business.

A brief survey is currently available online at http://www.cceniagaracounty.org, where farmers, food-related business owners and interested individuals are encouraged to fill out and provide their input.

The proposed food enterprise center's proximity to and affiliation with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Niagara County will allow for the facility to easily work with and capitalize on the technical expertise and research through New York's Ag Experiment Station, The Technology Farm and other food enterprise resources Cornell University can provide. Additionally, this location is central to the region making it easily accessible to its intended audience across the Western New York region.

Federal funding for this project was awarded under the Local Food Promotion Program of the Agricultural Marketing Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

For more information or if you would like to receive a paper copy of the survey, contact Amanda Henning, agriculture and food system educator, at [email protected] or at 716-433-8839, x231.

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Niagara County is a 501(c)(3), tax-exempt organization with programming that benefits children, families, farmers, seniors and communities across Niagara County.

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