Vernon Food Enterprise Center: Focusing on Food and Wellness
The Vernon County region in western Wisconsin is home to many small and midsize farms and food processors that had little access to the broader marketplace. The region also lacked a place to expand food processing, marketing and distribution or to make locally grown food surpluses available to families, schools, health care organizations, food pantries and meal sites.
Soil Sisters: Supporting and Celebrating Women Farmers
More than a decade ago, more women began to realize that they were choosing to become farmers in hopes of enjoying rural life and embracing sustainable agriculture. In late 2009, Lisa Kivirist invited a dozen women to her organic produce farm and bed-and-breakfast in Browntown to share stories, advice and support. The group, Soil Sisters, began to hold regular potluck meetings, welcoming women farmers, rural entrepreneurs and residents in and around Green County, in south central Wisconsin.
Inventors & Entrepreneurs Club of Juneau County: Supporting Entrepreneurs
Juneau County is a largely rural area in west central Wisconsin with a population of about 27,000. Manufacturing had been a critical contributor to the economy, employing as many as 1,500 people. But three major factories closed in 2000 and 2001, leaving many of their employees with few alternatives. The Juneau County Economic Development Corporation, a public-private partnership, stepped in and launched the Inventors & Entrepreneurs Club of Juneau County in 2002, when the area’s unemployment rate was nearly 14%. The goal was to diversify and strengthen the local economy.
