Wingate University's School of Business is developing a valuable tool to assist local farmers, agribusiness owners and other rural business people.
Faculty members have established a volunteer group to implement a Center for Rural Enterprise and e-Commerce.
The center, which got under way in fall 2005, provides counsel and training for farmers and others working in rural enterprises in Union, Anson and Stanly counties.
This is a rural education program aimed at helping individuals build their existing farming or related businesses or develop new businesses. Some become projects that involve students for a semester.
The focus is to help local farmers and other rural entrepreneurs become more self-sufficient, creative and innovative.
According to the 2002 Census of Agriculture, during the period from 1997 to 2002, the number of farms in our region declined by 4 percent. Market value of production declined by 10 percent. And market value of production per farm declined by 3 percent.
Managing a profitable farming operation is increasingly challenging, due to escalating costs, global competition, and the press and appeal of developers.
Business school professors volunteer to counsel and assist in developing and implementing effective managerial and marketing techniques. A goal is to develop ... long-term profitable enterprises for family farmers and other local residents.
Assistance includes an ongoing seminar and lecture series, drop-in center and private one-on-one counsel. Also offered are cooperative events with the Union County Extension Service and Farm Bureau, professional partnering, and Future Farms of America and 4H outreach programs.
The program has completed 18 projects. They include consultations with the towns of Marshville and Mineral Springs for retail development and brand imaging, new visitor programs for Hunter Farms, and a western town retreat and uptown Charlotte carriages for Southern Breezes Farm. Others are new communications techniques and musical venues for AwShucks corn maze, a wine launch for Tree House Vineyards of Monroe, a new line of goat milk soaps for Black Swan Farm and display ideas, school events and servicescape designs for the Museum of the Waxhaws.
A regional seminar program is set to begin in the fall or next spring. It will officially launch the new center and bring speakers supported by local and state groups to talk on the future in farming in the area for the next 20 years. In addition, a farmer's scholarship fund is planned for deserving college-bound youth who promise to remain residents in the Union-Anson-Stanly counties area for two years after graduation and to work in some segment of agri-business.
From these efforts, the university plans to offer courses at the undergraduate and graduate level in all areas of agri-economics.
For more information, contact Jeffrey von Freymann, Wingate University associate professor of marketing, 704-233-8139. Or e-mail jvonfreymann@wingate.edu.
IN MY OPINION | Jim Carpenter
