A conference to network the regional business community

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After food and energy, local capital is the third and critical capacity we must develop to relocalize our economy. The Addison County Relocalization Network (ACORN) and the Addison County Economic Development Corporation (ACEDC) are pleased to announce a local money conference for networking food, agriculture, and forestry businesses with regional capital providers and business service providers.

Financing the Working Landscape aims to:

• introduce entrepreneurs to local capital providers and business service providers
  
• educate small business owners and entrepreneurs about the capital continuum, stages of business development and how to prepare for capitalization
• catalyze opportunities for all participants through networking and 3-minute pitches to a panel of experts
  

The conference will include five case studies, an Entrepreneurs Showcase (expert feedback on a business pitch), a Challenge Presentation (expert feedback on a specific business challenge presented by a business owner), numerous business experts, and a networking session/local beverage social for businesses looking for capital and local business services.

Register Now!

Thank you for registering in advance!  It helps us to plan for our local foods lunch.

8:30 - 9 a.m.- Registration 

 

9:20 - 10:45 a.m. - Separate tracks for early stage and established businesses. 

• Early Stage: Eli Moulton of Merritt and Merritt and Moulton will talk business structures, and Steve Paddock of the SBDC will talk business models
• Established Businesses: Janice St. Onge of VSFJ and the Flexible Capital Fund will talk financing for expansion, and Bob Parsons from UVM Extension will talk succession and transition planning for your business 

10:45 - 11 a.m. - Break

11 - 11:30 a.m. - Case Studies, Part I: Lessons Learned 

11:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.- Entrepreneur Showcase, first half (3 presenters) 

• Selected businesses will each have three minutes to present who they are, what their long-term vision is and what their funding need is.

12 - 1 p.m.- Lunch

• Locally sourced food prepared by culinary arts students from the Hannaford Career Center 

1 - 1:30 p.m. - Entrepreneur Showcase, second half (3 presenters)  

1:30 - 2 p.m. - Case Studies, Part II: Where are they now?

• Previous FWL entrepreneurs will share updates on their businesses and what they've been up to

2 - 3:30 p.m. - Entrepreneur Challenge Presentation: Seven-minute presentations of a particular obstacle that an entrepreneur is facing, followed by coaching and suggested approaches from a panel of experts: 

• Francie Caccavo, CEO, Olivia's Croutons 
• Ken Perine, President, National Bank of Middlebury
• John Ryan, Vermont Ag Development Program
• David Bradbury, Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies

3:30 - 4:30 p.m. - Networking, a locally produced food and beverage tasting (including adult beverages!), and a prototype feedback session: 

• Businesses are invited to bring a new product prototype, a marketing campaign, a label or logo - anything they would like feedback on from our audience.

ACORN, a non-profit community network whose mission is to grow and invest in our local sources of food, energy and capital.

ACEDC, the resource for helping new and existing businesses navigate the opportunities and challenges of doing business in Addison County.