Through funding made possible by the 2018 US Department of Commerce Economic Development Agency (EDA) Local Technical Assistance Program, Hudson Valley AgriBusiness Development Corporation’s (HVADC), third accelerator program, the Farm and Food Funding Accelerator (FFFA), began in November 2019. Through its first two FFFA programs, HVADC has graduated 19 Peers from this intensive training curriculum for food entrepreneurs preparing their businesses for growth and accessing financial sources. Combined, the inaugural class of 2016 and the most recent class concluded in June 2019 have brought in nearly $1 million in outside investments to help their businesses grow, develop new products, find new markets and identify new opportunities. While statistics for the recently concluded FFFA Peer group are still being gathered, the inaugural class exceeded all goals set for the program. At the onset of the 2016 class, the FFBA had identified aggregate goals for the group: a 15% increase in sales, 12 expanded market opportunities, 24 new market opportunities, and creation or retention of 24 direct jobs and 24 indirect jobs. The Peers achieved: an aggregate sales increase of 26.4%, 43 new market opportunities and identified 23 expanded market opportunities, 37.75 direct jobs and 27.6 indirect jobs were created, and $3M+ was incrementally contributed to the local economy through direct purchases from 66 regional farms by the nine Peer businesses in that class.
