Farewell from Project Director, Laura Lauffer
What a wonderful ride to reflect on! As we close out the EmPOWERing Mountain Food Systems (EMFS) project, we want to share some highlights and gratitude from our work since 2018:
– We distributed over $300,000 in farmer grants, loan matches, and scholarships.
– This funding leveraged over $2,000,000 in additional farmer and food business spending in the region.
– The three Small Business Centers in the region and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Commerce worked with hundreds of farmers and food businesses in educational programs, one on one business counseling, and as strategic guides throughout this project.
– In collaboration with EBCI Cooperative Extension and the Department of Commerce, we held the first-ever Food Truck Boot Camp in North Carolina. Our model is being duplicated by other partners in the state.
– In collaboration with program partners MountainWise, Tribal Food Distribution, and Vecinos we distributed more than 2,300 food boxes to the farmworker and tribal communities paired with nutrition education programming.
– We stayed open and active during the COVID pandemic helping farmers markets with the “Shop Safe, Shop Local” campaign and distributing cold storage equipment, helping food and farming businesses stay open.
– Western Carolina University’s Business and Communications faculty paired students with numerous businesses to explore ideas for expansion, and during COVID, helped numerous farmers launch online sales platforms.
All of this could not have been possible without the skilled administrative support of Lauren Hill, our remote connection with all the necessary but tedious government paperwork and processes. Lauren ran our ship with grace and made us all look great, and, most importantly, served the farmers and food businesses of Southwestern NC. Thank you, Lauren!
It is one thing to have a vision for this work and it is another to have team members to make the vision a reality. Jess Mrugala has been the heart of this project as we have engaged and maintained effective and committed partnerships. Jess has done the heavy lifting to make many of our projects thrive. Stephanie Rayburn has been a masterful juggler of all things communication to keep our website, Facebook and newsletter running. This director knows what it takes to make a project rise – and it is the wonderful energy and skill of a team. Forever grateful.
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Extension office could not have been a better place for our staff to land. Chumper Walker, EBCI Cooperative Extension Director, made Laura and Jess feel welcome, providing office space and administrative support and, importantly, a welcome to the Cherokee community.
Sgi,
Laura
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