The Holmes County Ohio State University Extension Service will be hosting "Annie's Project" classes on Wednesday nights in February and March 2012.  Annie's Project was started to empower farm women to be better business partners.  The classes will be held at Comfort Inn in Millersburg, Ohio starting February 8, 2012.  The cost for the classes is $65.  Pre-register  by calling 330.674.3015. 

We will be meeting on January 24, 2012 at the Millersburg Mennonite Church(288 E. Jackson St.), Millersburg, Ohio.  Our discussion will be  identifying current and potential business enterprises that could support and relate to each other by using local agricultural product and ag related enterprises. These ideas and businesses would help form business ecosystems around agriculture.   Nathan Hilbert and I will be working with you to start mapping the ideas and resources we have and what might be needed to move folks together.

The Ohio Department of Development is teaming with Ohio Department of Taxation to offer InvestOhio.  It is a tool to help provide financial capital for small businesses while giving a personal income tax credit for investors providing the new equity. Check out the Development Department's website for more details:  

http://www.development.ohio.gov/InvestOhio/InvestOhio.htm

CSREES has a secondary education challenge grant that might be of interest to groups working on connecting educational skill development and career center, post secondary programs or ag curriculum in schools without Ag Ed programs.  The grant application and details are located at http://www.csrees.usda.gov/fo/educationchallengesecondaryhep.cfm.   Food and agricultural sciences are part of the opportunity for educating youth and workforce development.

The Threshold Foundation has community- based program grant to enhance energy efficiency, reduce consumption of natural resources and create alternative and distributed energy sources.  The foundation is committed to social change. Online letters of inquiry must be submitted by September 25, 2009. Detailed application guidelines are available on the Foundation's website.  Threshold Foundation, PO Box 29903, San Francisco, CA 94129-0903,Tel 415.561.6400;Grant Inquiries:

Straight from Debbie Rausch, Ohio's USDA office:

I checked with the Ohio office of USDA on the status of USDA Value Added Grant.  It had a original July 2009 due date for applications.  Debbie Rausch indicated that they have not heard anything on the re-issuance date.  There was a change in definitions and USDA and OMB were working out the details.  She was hopefully that something would be posted shortly but at the moment, no information on grant submission time frame.  She is waiting and will let us know as soon as she knows something.

Thanks.
 

Leah Miller

The following is a brief summary of the House version of comprehensive food safety bill that passed in July. If you are involved in grain or livestock at farm level, direct marketing to farmers market, restaurants or grocery stores, you might want to follow what is in the House version and what is being proposed for the Senate version. A comprehensive food safety bill that gives the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) additional new authorities to take preventative steps to stop foodborne illnesses passed the U.S.

The book Ripples from the Zambezi by Ernesto Sirolli keeps coming to my mind with all the discussion about our economy.