Completed Project Report


Managing Risks in Agritourism Enterprise Development

  • Award Amount: $29,504
  • Regional Center: North Central Extension Risk Management Education Center
  • Grant Program: 2008 Value Added Enterprises/Farm Diversification Grants
  • Project Director: Raymond Hansen
  • Email: hansenr@iastate.edu
  • Organization: Iowa State University Extension Value Added Agriculture

Extension RME Regional Centers
Extension Risk Management Education Region Map

Project Overview

This project provided individualized business plan training and coaching to current and prospective Iowa agritourism producers. Most agritourism operators are small to medium-sized farms direct marketing products, looking for avenues to add income to their operations. This project provided business plan training and individualized business plan development coaching to agritourism operators. Business planning workshops and personalized technical assistance and guidance was provided by the Iowa State University Extension Value Added Agriculture staff with guidance and direction from the collaborative Agritourism Working Group. Business plan training, one-on-one coaching, video interviewing training, farmer marketing training and common safety/risk management concerns were all addressed in this project. The interview training was provided on-site with video and photographs collected by project staff for agritourism operators use.

This project provides replication and sustainablity, with additional presentations made to statewide agriculture groups at their annual conferences and meetings by Extension staff as well as in other states.

Number of Participants: 68

Outcomes

Project Steps

PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS

There are no promotional materials available for this project.

EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS

There are no educational materials available for this project.

REPORTS & EVALUATIONS

There are no reports or evaluations available for this project.

DELIVERY AREA

DESCRIBE ANY UNEXPECTED RESULTS OF THE PROJECT:

HOW WOULD YOU IMPROVE THE PROJECT IF YOU WERE TO DO IT AGAIN?

WHAT WERE THE KEYS TO SUCCESS FOR YOUR PARTICIPANTS?

INDIVIDUAL STORIES / EXAMPLES OF SUCCESS / QUOTES