Participants share their definition of entrepreneur

 

A glimpse of The Entrepreneurship Project in Kansas City

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Participants reflect on a successful week in KC

“My favorite part of the Kansas City trip was dinner with local farmers at Badseed and hearing their stories.”

– Brian Coleman, participant from Callao, Mo.

“I learned in Kansas City that we Missourians are creative!”

– Suzi White, participant from Hardin, Mo.

 

“In Kansas City I learned to be persistent, all things are possible.”

– Tena O’Hara, participant from Creighton, Mo.

 

“The Kansas City trip reinforced financial knowledge.”

– Eduardo Crespi, participant from Columbia, Mo.

Fresh food and local farmers sprout great conversation and networking

The Entrepreneurship Project dines at BADSEED Farm and Market in downtown Kansas City. Gathered around fresh and seasonal ingredients with local farmers, the dinner was busy with conversation and networking.

Green Dirt Farm founder Sarah Hoffman talks with local farmers and participants.

Participant Craig Pettus, right, and St. James Winery's CEO Peter Hofherr enjoying a buffet of local and seasonal food prepared by Room 39.

Ted Habiger, founder and chef at Room 39, explains where the food was grown and how seasonal ingredients inspire his menus.

Dinner tonight is a helping of local farmers and food

The Entrepreneurship Project offers participants an opportunity to dine with Kansas City agri-food entrepreneurs and farmers tonight. Entrepreneurs from the ventures we toured yesterday are invited to dinner as well, creating more time for participants to talk with the successful entrepreneurs. Room 39 will serve a dinner with delightful combinations of local and seasonal ingredients at Bad Seed in downtown Kansas City. Let the fun begin!

Kansas City agri-food entrepreneurs share their success stories

Today was an exciting and successful day of touring in Kansas City for The Entrepreneurship Project. From the early morning wine tasting at Jowler Creek where participants saw miniature sheep eating the weeds in between the grape vines to the story of the owners, California girl meets Missouri farm boy.

Jowler Creek

Jowler Creek’s founders Colleen and Jason Gerke’s journey to their dream of owning a winery is taking off but not an easy challenge. Together the two still do most of the work in the vines and in the winery along with wine tastings and marketing.  With the business going well the two are trying to meet the demand of their customers, both in Missouri and Kansas, and their two young children.

Green Dirt Farm

Next, the tour led us to Green Dirt Farm. Set on a hill, sheep casually grazed as the farm’s owners told their story. Jacqueline Smith once worked for Sarah Hoffman as a nanny but quickly after meeting the two learned they shared a dream of a sheep creamery and grass-fed lamb operation. Together the two gained financing from friends and family and grew the business to now produce farmstead cheeses and grass-fed lambs. Smith in charge of the animals and Hoffman busy in the cheese kitchen, the two are producing award-winning cheeses and building plans to expand their business.

In Green Dirt Farm’s barn-like dining hall, participants enjoyed a delightful lunch of leafy greens, lamb and rice stew, lentil soup, cookies and the most anticipated part, a sampling of three Green Dirt Farm cheeses. Currently, the cheeses are only sold in Missouri and Kansas to some restaurants along with Cosentino’s grocery downtown, Better Cheddar and Dean and Deluca in Leawood, Kan., to name a few.

Shatto Milk Company

Then, the bus was off to Shatto Milk Company in Osborn, Mo. With a quick sense of humor and a surprise of his own success, Leroy Shatto shared the story of his transition from a conventional to a value-added dairy.

Dedicated to providing the freshest milk in the Kansas City area, Shatto bottles milk in glass bottles and delivers the milk to grocery stores and restaurants the next day. The community has quickly embraced Shatto’s milk and demanded more. Shatto then expanded his milk company to include flavored milk like chocolate and root beer. Now, Shatto is even turning some businesses like Wal-Mart away simply because the dairy cannot expand fast enough.

Today, the dairy is working to increase their product line through adding ice cream, cheese and butter. Along with Shatto’s award-winning milk, the dairy is staying busy through agro-tourism. Shatto Milk Company welcomed more than 30,000 people last year to tour their farm.

Fahrmeier Farms

Moving on from the dairy, The Entrepreneurship Project headed for Fahrmeier Farms in Lexington, Mo. After years as a conventional farm with row-crops, cattle and hogs, Fahrmeier brothers transitioned their family’s farm to a produce operation and winery. With Bret Fahrmeier in charge of the produce operation and Brandon Fahrmeier responsible for the vineyard and winery, the two are happy they returned to their parents’ farm and hope to continue expanding the business.

After touring Fahrmeier Farms, participants enjoyed dinner at the winery. Inside an old barn, participants ate burgers made from Fahrmeier beef along with salad, sweet potatoes au gratin, Fahrmeier Farms’ heirloom tomatoes and homemade oatmeal raisin cookies.

A great day full of interesting, impressive and successful entrepreneurs all with a passion for agri-business and farming. These entrepreneurs have a story to tell and vision that keeps them going. Expanding, diversifying or perfecting quality, these businesses are defying the odds and building a future in agriculture.

Wine, cheese, lamb and beef–let the touring begin!

Today, participants in The Entrepreneurship Project are off to tour five exciting agribusinesses in the Kansas City area. Tours include a dairy who bottles milk in glass bottles, two wineries, a produce farm and a grass-fed lamb and sheep’s cheese farm.

The tours build on The Entrepreneurship Project’s classroom learning of the basic concepts of supply chains, venture finance and company management. Take a look at the successful ventures participants are touring today and even schedule your own tour or dinner reservation. Below are links to the generous entrepreneurs who are sharing their stories today:

Jowler Creek

Business: vineyard and winery

Location: Platte City, Mo.

Owners: Colleen and Jason Gerke

Started: Summer 2005

Philosophy: “Breed a high-quality wine that’s fun to drink and easy to pair with local Kansas City foods.”

Green Dirt Farm

Business: Produces grass-fed lamb and farmstead sheep’s milk cheeses

Location: Weston, Mo.

Owners: Sarah Hoffman and Jacqueline Smith

Philosophy: “We believe in the tradition of community-based farms where customers can know how their food was produced. We are committed to protecting and naturally building the soil at our farm.”

Lunch at Green Dirt Farm includes lentil soup, lamb and rice stew, salad and Green Dirt Farm’s farmstead cheeses.

Shatto Milk Company

Business: Dairy that sells milk in glass bottles without the use of hormones

Location: Osborn, Mo.

Owners: Barbara and Leroy Shatto

Started in: June 2003

Philosophy: “Milk at its finest. […] Top priorities [is] to limit the number of times the milk is handled, and to process our milk in a manner that maintains its superior taste.”

Fahrmeier Farms

Business: Winery, vineyard and produce farm

Location: Lexington, Mo.

Owners: Fahrmeier family

Philosophy: “Our goal is for you to enjoy your time with us here at the Winery so that you will want to return again and again! We want to teach you about wines in general and our wines specifically. We want to show you where and how wines are grown and made.”

Fahrmeier Farms will serve the participants gourmet burgers for dinner, made with Fahrmeier Farm’s beef.

Talk with participants–why they got involved and where they want to go

Missourians from around the state share why they signed up for The Entrepreneurship Project. Learn where participants are from, what they are currently doing and where they want to go. Some participants are retired, others are in college and a few are employed hoping to start a production agriculture business in the near future. Learn how these Missourians are taking charge of their future, and how you too can participate in The Entrepreneurship Project.

Apply today to participate in The Entrepreneurship Project!

Participants in The Entrepreneurship Project learn about new trends in agriculture, gain entrepreneurial skills and travel to tour successful entrepreneurial ventures. This exciting opportunity is available to Missourians interested in starting a production agriculture business with less than 10 years of farming experience. Watch this video to learn more about the project and how you can get involved! Click here to learn more about applying.

Next stop, Kansas City!

The Entrepreneurship Project is back from a successful trip to Sonoma Valley, Calif., and preparing for the next module. At the end of October, participants will travel to Kansas City to tour a variety of agribusinesses. This module is focused on learning the basic concepts of supply chains, venture finance and company management. Participants can look forward to learning how to “bootstrap” a new venture on a limited budget, and learn how to build a strong brand.

Visit the “where we’ll go” tab to learn what businesses the participants will tour in Kansas City. To learn more about the agribusinesses, their products and the entrepreneurs behind them, follow the Web site links on the trip’s itinerary.