Cynthia Walton and Amanda Perreault were part of the team that in 2019 launched The Break Room, a restaurant located in the Greylock Works converted mill in North Adams. Professionally trained pastry chefs—and friends since high school—they worked together for years building a reputation for high-quality, delicious pastries. After four years at The Break Room creating a successful pastry program, they decided to start their own business.

Before opening, they faced challenges—their incomes were low and they had no collateral, plus Cynthia is a single mom—and couldn’t fathom owning a business while working full-time. Enter the FCCDC. After six months of working with Business Assistance Consultant Amy Shapiro, the two completed a business plan and the FCCDC provided a grant and loan for Nostalgia Scratch Pastry.

Cynthia and Amanda are now serving up exquisite baked goods to retailers up and down Berkshire County and recently were profiled by The Berkshire Eagle. “We’ve been side by side through every up and down,” Amanda told the paper, “supporting one another, pressing each other to be better at everything we do.” We predict that collaboration will continue to bring nothing but sweet success!

Read the full story.

Are you an early-stage, but established food entrepreneur selling a consumer packaged good (CPG) or a farmer with a value-added product line? Are you primarily selling direct to consumer (D2C) and ready to begin selling to stores in your region? Join the Franklin County Community Development Corporation and the Sustainable Business Network of Massachusetts from January to May 2024 to learn from industry experts and entrepreneurs like yourself who have grown their CPG brands in the Northeast.

What You Will Learn

This program will cover:

• Cost analysis, pricing, and profit margins
• Market analysis, marketing, and branding 
• Sales strategy and developing relationships with store buyers
• Working with food distributors
• Production planning and scale up, including working with co-packers

Wednesday, November 29th, 9am-1pmDeadline to apply is December 8! 

Are you a farmer diversifying into value-added production or an entrepreneur developing new and exciting products? Do you have questions about how to integrate food safety and quality into the development of your products? If so, this course is for you! Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) is collaborating with UMass Amherst, The University of Rhode Island, Commonwealth Kitchen, and the Western MA Food Processing Center at the Franklin County Community Development Corporation to offer this virtual program designed specifically to address food product development and food safety issues faced by small farmers and food producers. It includes a self-paced online course with homework followed by a 4-hour virtual/online session and office hours that dive deeper into relevant topics.

Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) and the Franklin County CDC have extended the deadline to apply for the Emergency Farm Fund (EFF) to December 1. The fund offers zero-interest loans of up to $25,000 for Massachusetts farms in Franklin, Hampden, and Hampshire counties affected by fluctuating winter temperatures in February, the deep freeze of May 18, and widespread flooding and excessive rain in July. Click here for more information.

The EFF is a resource for farms struggling to meet their immediate financial needs because of income, crop, or equipment loss due to these weather events. The goal of the fund is to respond to critical, time-sensitive needs by helping farms recover from their losses, continue farming, and/or build resilience for future extreme weather events. If you are a farmer who has experienced these losses, apply here.

The Franklin County CDC's PVGrows Investment Fund is one of the sources of funds for the EFF. The fund's investors are community members who invest as little as $500 toward a more resilient food system. Interested in becoming an investor? Find out more at the link below.

Classes and Workshops

Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources

Growing Your Farm Business Planning Course

Tuesday evenings 6:00pm – 8:30pm January 9 – March 5, 2024

In-person classes held at MDAR offices in West Springfield

A hands-on 8-week course to help established farmers develop a business plan with financial projections for their farm business. 

MA Farm Succession School

Three in-person sessions on Wednesdays, 9:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. at the Berkshire Athenaeum in Pittsfield

·       January 31, 2024

·       February 28, 2024

·       March 27, 2024

This is an opportunity for senior generation farmers - with or without identified successors - to talk with peers, learn from advisors, and get support on the challenging process of farm succession and transfer planning.

CommonWealth Kitchen and Santander

Cultivate Small Business

Tuesday, December 19, 3–4 p.m., register online

CommonWealth Kitchen has partnered with Santander to provide resources, capital, and mentorship to early-stage entrepreneurs in the food industry in Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island.

Western Mass Means Business

Mastering Accounting for Small Businesses Using Wave Accounting Registration

This series is designed to provide entrepreneurs and small business owners with the skills needed to use the Wave Accounting platform to manage their business finances. 

• Jan. 9, from 5 -7:30 p.m. at Venture X, Holyoke
• Jan. 16 & 23, from 5-7 p.m. on Zoom
• Jan. 30, from 5-7 p.m. at Venture X, Holyoke
• Free to attend

Information and registration online.

New Entry Sustainable Farming Project

Climate Change Record Keeping Workshop Series, Workshop 2: Breakeven Analysis and Scenario Planning

December 11, 3–5 p.m.

Information and registration online.

Workshop 1, Bookkeeping for Farmers, recording available.

Just a reminder that we gratefully accept donations to help us deliver services to low and moderate income entrepreneurs and small business owners! Every gift is appreciated, and donations over $1,000 are eligible for a 50% tax credit (so you can double your impact!).

You can set up a monthly, quarterly, yearly, or one-time donation securely on our website. Thank you to everyone of you who supports this work financially and in countless other ways!

Grow Your Farm with Value-Added Food Products

We'll guide you through the food business roadmap!

Fourth Wednesdays at 11 a.m.

Upcoming virtual session is on November 22.

Grow Your Business

For businesses of all types at any stage

First Wednesdays at 2 p.m.

Upcoming virtual session is on December 6.

Financing Farms and Healthy Food Retail

Professional guidance on local food businesses

Second Wednesdays at 11 a.m.

Upcoming virtual session is on December 13.

Starting a Food Product Business

Got a dream product? We can help!

Third Tuesdays at 10 a.m.

Upcoming virtual session is on November 21.

Linguistic Bias

What's the harm?

Third Wednesday at 2 p.m.

Upcoming virtual session is on January 17.

Franklin County CDC | 324 Wells Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 | 413-774-7204