NUMILA — The Kauai Coffee Agricultural Business Plan Competition will debut in the fall of 2016 to potential new and existing farmers, value-added food producers, and ag-based renewable energy entrepreneurs to learn how to build successful, profitable agricultural ventures. The
NUMILA — The Kauai Coffee Agricultural Business Plan Competition will debut in the fall of 2016 to potential new and existing farmers, value-added food producers, and ag-based renewable energy entrepreneurs to learn how to build successful, profitable agricultural ventures.
The announcement was made Monday by Kauai Coffee and the Kauai Economic Development Board, who will administer the competition at the Kauai Coffee Visitor Center in Numila.
“Business planning is crucial to the success for new and established businesses,” said Susan Tai Kaneko, president and CEO of KEDB. “The mission of the Kauai Coffee ABPC is to bring together and provide the best possible resources so agricultural ventures can create the best business model and business plan to present to landowners, venture capitalists, and other investors.”
These resources include education and training, networking and mentoring, team-building facilitation, and access to venture financing.
ABPC participants will be involved in informational sessions, each followed by a facilitated networking and team-building session. These will be delivered in each of the four major regions on Kauai to market the program and its unique opportunities.
Phase I of the ABPC will start in January 2017 with “How to Write an Executive Summary” workshop to prepare potential participants to submit executive summaries in February 2017.
Selected teams advance to Phase II which includes an eight-week “How to Write a Business Plan” course in March and April, 2017. The session will include training on topics such as marketing, financial management, legal issues, human resource management, food safety, conservation planning, financing, and more.
In addition to the facets of operating an agri-business, each team will hone their presentation skills to present clearly and succinctly to a body of in-class judges who will critique every aspect of their business.
Following the course, each team will submit a full business plan to be reviewed by the panel of judges who will select the top seven to 10 teams to advance to Phase III.
During this final phase, each team will present in-person to the judges panel who will select the top three winning teams to receive prize money and ongoing technical assistance.
The Awards Presentation will be followed by a networking reception to which landowners, suppliers, investors and other potential partners will be invited to encourage deal flow and collaboration.
Prize money will be awarded to the top three winners.
