A Message from the Center | | |
Although the Northwest Rocky Mountain Food Business Center was required to conclude its technical assistance and funding programs earlier than anticipated, we are proud of the strong networks we helped build, the businesses we supported in advancing their goals, and the investments made to strengthen these ventures. Through these newsletters, we will continue to highlight the organizations and entrepreneurs the Center supported, with particular emphasis on recipients of the 2025 Business Builder grants.
We also invite your assistance in documenting the Center’s impact. Individuals who signed up to stay connected will receive a brief survey regarding their engagement with Center resources and how those resources benefited their business or organization. We ask that you take 5–10 minutes to complete the survey so we may accurately report these outcomes to the USDA.
Here is the survey link: https://colostate.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8DgfxRBdTPnt6p8
| | Explore Our 2025 Business Builder Story Maps | | | | |
We’re excited to share an interactive way to discover the innovative food and farm businesses that received Business Builder grants through the Northwest & Rocky Mountain Regional Food Business Center.
Our new Story Maps use engaging maps, visuals, and narratives to highlight each grantee, where they’re located, and how they’re using their funding to grow, innovate, and strengthen regional food systems.
Whether you’re looking for inspiration, understanding regional impact, or wanting to connect with these dynamic entrepreneurs, the Story Maps bring these success stories to life in a way that’s easy to explore and share.
| | A Landmark Gathering for Indigenous Farm & Food Enterprises | | |
The inaugural Native Grown + Gathered Expo took place October 1–3, 2025, at Seattle’s Bell Harbor International Conference Center, bringing together 624 participants, 210 Indigenous Nations and affiliations, 70 speakers, and 46 vendors from across the Northwest and Rocky Mountain regions.
The three-day gathering celebrated Indigenous entrepreneurship, innovation, and food sovereignty, creating space for ancestral foodways to meet contemporary enterprise. The Expo was made possible through the collective support of partners and sponsors, ensuring Native producers, entrepreneurs, and knowledge keepers could convene in a space rooted in culture, community, and opportunity. The Northwest and Rocky Mountain Regional Food Business Center was proud to support this landmark event alongside many committed partners.
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2025 Shared Kitchen Summit Recap
In November, shared kitchen operators, industry leaders, and food entrepreneurs from across the country convened in Cleveland for the 2025 Shared Kitchen Summit, hosted by The Food Corridor. The Northwest Rocky Mountain Regional Food Business Center was proud to be a sponsor of this year’s convening, which brought together stakeholders to explore best practices, emerging trends, and collaborative approaches supporting shared kitchens as critical food business infrastructure.
The event featured educational sessions, kitchen tours, networking opportunities, and a Makers Market highlighting local producers. The week concluded with the Golden Whisk Awards at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, recognizing excellence and leadership across the shared kitchen ecosystem, including innovation, community impact, and operational excellence.
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Celebrating Local Food Innovation at Slow Food in the Tetons' Farm to Fork Festival
The Northwest and Rocky Mountain Regional Food Business Center was proud to support Slow Food in the Tetons’ annual Farm to Fork Festival, its educational programs, and the Pitch in Place contest October 4-5, 2025. This celebration of the local food system in northwestern Wyoming and eastern Idaho featured nine food and farm businesses that worked with the Center’s Wyoming team in 2024–2025 to receive technical assistance and pitch their businesses at the People’s Market for a chance to win prizes.
Pitch in Place winners included:
• 1st Place ($2,000): Squire Farms of Smoot, WY — cow dairy products
• 2nd Place ($1,000): Killpecker Creek Cattle Co. of Daniel, WY — beef products
• 3rd Place ($500): Winter Winds Farm of Victor, ID — goat dairy products
• People’s Choice ($1,500): Cosmic Apple Gardens of Victor, ID — fresh produce
The Festival also featured two advisory committee members from the Center’s New Markets for Grains, Pulses, and Pseudocereals team: Anna Jones-Crabtree of Vilicus Farms (Havre, MT) and Sarah Wood of Wyoming Heritage Grains (Powell, WY). Both presented at the “Staple Crop Summit,” with Anna also serving as a keynote speaker for Harvesting Hope: Healing Communities Through Food.
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Winter Fancy Faire
January 11-13, 2026
San Diego, CA
This premier industry event brings together specialty food makers, buyers, distributors, chefs, and media from across the country. Attendees can explore thousands of innovative products, discover emerging market trends, participate in research-based educational sessions, and build valuable industry connections. With hundreds of exhibitors showcasing new and established brands, the show offers a dynamic opportunity to stay informed and connected within the specialty food sector.
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Young Farmers & Ranchers Communications Boot Camp
January 23-25, 2026
Salem, OR
The YF&R Communications Boot Camp is a three-day leadership and communications training conference designed for young farmers and ranchers from across Oregon and Washington, but open to all. This conference will equip attendees with practical skills to share their story, advocate effectively, and grow their influence in their local communities and their respective industries.
You will learn how to craft a strong "elevator pitch" along with understanding key policy issues, and get hands-on preparation for YF&R contests such as Excellence in Ag, Achievement Award, and Discussion Meet. The weekend also features an industry panel, resource breakouts with agricultural professionals, and tours of local farms and agribusinesses.
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FARE Idaho Field to Fork Festival
February 12, 2026
Boise, ID
Field to Fork brings together the full spectrum of Idaho’s food system to build real relationships and unlock new market opportunities. Whether you're a grower looking to connect with chefs, a distributor seeking new partners, or a restaurateur sourcing the best of what’s local this is where connections are made.
Expect a day packed with:
- A bustling trade fair filled with local flavor
- Chef-led classes and live cooking demos
- Expert panels tackling real-world industry issues
- And a whole lot of community
Free to attend. Open to all.
| | | | Resources & Opportunities | |
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Steward-to-Steward Exchange Program
Steward-to-Steward is a program for Indigenous farmers, buffalo and cattle ranchers, gardeners, foragers, and other caretakers of the land in the Buffalo Nations region to connect with one another through a paid work exchange.
Inspired by the grassroots movement, Campesino-a-Campesino, you will be connected with a fellow producer for a paid 2-day work exchange to spend time together learning from each other on how to raise food and care for the land.
Steward-to-Steward is about fostering intertribal kinships, empowering relational ways of knowing, and creating space for Great Plains producers to share in their teachings of the land.
Enrollment is ongoing.
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Entrepreneurship and Business Planning for Farm and Food Businesses
The Idaho Cultivating Success Entrepreneurship and Business Planning course for small farms, ranches and specialty food businesses guides you in developing a business plan you can use to help finance and grow a new enterprise or expand an existing farm or specialty foods business.
The class will also cover business management and connect you with local networks of resources. It includes four Zoom classes and two 4-hour in-person intensive. The course is designed for small, sustainable farm and food enterprises who sell direct to their customers or to intermediated markets such as retailers, restaurants or small food processors.
Tuesdays, January 27 - March 10, 2026, 9-11 am PT / 10 am -12 pm MT with in-person intensives on February 10 & 24, 9 am - 1 pm PT / 10 am - 2 pm MT.
Early Bird Registration: $50 per farm/ranch (Early Bird pricing ends January 16,2026)
Registration after January 16: $100 per farm/ranch
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Navigating Farm Succession
In this half-day workshop, Oregon Agricultural Trust (OAT) will share case studies and best practices for handling common challenges like family conflict and farm business management. Attorney Maria Schmidlkofer will also join us to share her knowledge from years of working with Willamette Valley farmers to create estate plans and farm business succession plans.
Maria and staff from OAT and Tualatin SWCD will be available to answer questions over lunch, provided by Bellyful Catering.
After the workshop, attendees will be eligible for a FREE 1-hour advising session with OAT succession planning experts!
Register early, space is limited!
Date: Thursday, January 29th, 2026
Time: 9:00am-1:00pm; check-in starts at 8:45am
Location: Jesse Mays Community Hall (30975 NW Hillcrest Street North Plains, OR)
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Partners and Collaborators: |
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Center Leads: Colorado State University, Oregon State University
Regional/multi-state: Tahoma Peak Solutions, Network of Incubators and Community Kitchens (The Nick), Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, Luna Bird, The Food Corridor
Colorado: Colorado Department of Agriculture, Colorado State University
Oregon: Oregon Department of Agriculture, Oregon State University Food Innovation Center, Oregon Community Food Systems Network, Oregon Food Hub Network
Idaho: University of Idaho, Idaho Department of Agriculture, Future Roots, Arrowleaf Consulting Group
Montana: Montana Department of Agriculture, Montana State University
Washington: Washington State University, Washington State Department of Agriculture
Wyoming: University of Wyoming, Central Wyoming College
USDA: Ag Marketing Service Collaborators and NW-Rocky Mountain Regional Coordinator
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In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident.
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the State or local Agency that administers the program or contact USDA through the Telecommunications Relay Service at 711 (voice and TTY). Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.
To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at How to File a Program Discrimination Complaint and at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: (1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Mail Stop 9410, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; (2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or (3) email: program.intake@usda.gov.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.
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