
A Model Food Entrepreneur Assistance and Education Program: The Northeast Center for Food Entrepreneurship
Author(s) -
Cranwell Michele R.,
Kolodinsky Jane M.,
Donnelly Catherine W.,
Downing Donald L.,
PadillaZakour Olga I.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of food science education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.271
H-Index - 13
ISSN - 1541-4329
DOI - 10.1111/j.1541-4329.2005.tb00063.x
Subject(s) - entrepreneurship , business , center (category theory) , marketing , rural area , process (computing) , economic growth , political science , economics , computer science , finance , chemistry , law , operating system , crystallography
The Northeast Center for Food Entrepreneurship (NECFE) is a collaborative effort between Cornell Univ. and the Univ. of Vermont. NECFE uses a multi‐institutional and regional collaboration approach, with specific expertise and necessary facilities and resources, to provide technical assistance and education for businesses in the food industry. The overall goals of NECFE are to support and sustain rural businesses and promote sustainable economic development of rural communities. Through process evaluation techniques, the evaluators of NECFE identified 5 essential components of a model food entrepreneurship assistance and education center, based on NECFE's experience: (1) multi‐institutional and regional collaboration, (2) expertise, (3) facilities and resources, (4) services, and (5) evaluation of the center. These components build on each other and enable NECFE to provide clients with access to current food processing technology, technical information, and education that are directly applicable to a real business. Through replication of this model, other organizations and academic institutions may establish a regional food entrepreneurship assistance and education center.