Virginia Farm Bureau

Business Development

Virginia Farm Bureau works directly with the Virginia Foundation for Agriculture, Innovation and Rural Sustainability (VA FAIRS) to help our producer members interested in starting or expanding a value-added agricultural business.

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Helping agricultural businesses
reach success

VA FAIRS’ areas of expertise include strategic planning, grant assistance, feasibility study and business plan creation and cooperative assistance for rural agricultural enterprises.

About VA FAIRS

Since its inception, VA FAIRS has assisted hundreds of producers with strengthening their business ideas, and has brought more than $30 million in grant funds to rural agricultural businesses.

VA FAIRS partners with major stakeholders including VFBF, USDA Rural Development and Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to provide services to producers. Thanks to these partners, VA FAIRS offers grant-writing and business-planning services at a greatly reduced cost.

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Cooperative Assistance

VA FAIRS assists producer groups in identifying emerging market trends that create opportunities for small-scale producer cooperatives. These trends often translate into opportunities for producers to transition into new types of agricultural production, processing and marketing ventures that reward attributes such as “family-farm” produced and “locally grown” products.

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Strategic Planning

VA FAIRS can help you define your business's strategy, determine direction and guide decision-making through strategic planning. Strategic planning can guide your business to success by helping determine realistic future goals and the steps to achieve those goals.

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Grant Assistance

Funding is a critical step in launching a new business or expanding an existing one. VA FAIRS can help clients obtain funding through grant application assistance as well as developing feasibility studies, business plans and marketing plans, so a lender can better judge the potential of the business.

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Business Plans

A business plan is critical to your venture’s success. VA FAIRS business plans are detailed and tailored to each venture and their respective industry. A business plan can be used to attract investors, apply for grants and convey your vision to attract partners.

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Resource Library

VA FAIRS provides a free resource library with white papers and presentations. These resources include information about value-added meat processing, direct-to-consumer sales, cooperative development and much more!

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Feasibility Studies

VA FAIRS creates independent and objective feasibility studies designed to identify the strengths and weaknesses of an existing or proposed business, venture or idea. Each study analyzes the opportunities and obstacles based on the industry environment and available resources. All studies include a full financial model and projections, industry overview and competitor highlights.

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