Southwest Regional Food Business Center

The Center’s Home in Arizona

 

 

Who We Are

The Southwest Regional Food Business Center is a collaborative initiative designed to empower small-scale farmers, ranchers, and food businesses across Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah. As part of the USDA’s network of 12 Regional Food Business Centers, we aim to build a resilient and inclusive food system by offering tailored resources, technical assistance, and financial support.

Local First Arizona, the Arizona Department of Agriculture, and the University of Arizona serve as Arizona’s key partners, ensuring the Center’s success in strengthening the regional food system of the Southwest.

Who We Serve

We are committed to supporting small-scale farmers, ranchers, and food system businesses (think aggregators, distributors, etc.) who face challenges navigating the agricultural landscape. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to expand, we cater to businesses that need help with:

  • Developing business plans

  • Accessing markets for their products

  • Increasing revenues and building collaborations

  • Understanding grant opportunities

If you’re a producer striving to grow your business, enhance your market reach, or adopt climate-smart practices, the Southwest Regional Food Business Center is here for you.

What We Do

Our mission is built on three key pillars:

Coordination
We facilitate collaboration across regions and connect food businesses with USDA programs, grants, and other funding opportunities. By coordinating with federal, state, and tribal agencies, we ensure our partners have access to the tools they need to thrive and the connections to open new markets and help businesses grow.

Capacity Building
Through Business Builder Awards, we help fund projects tailored to regional needs. This funding can be used for post-harvest projects, especially those focused on aggregation and distribution. There will be two funding cycles in 2025 and two funding cycles in 2026.

Technical Assistance
We provide hands-on support to farmers and food businesses, offering services like:

  • Financial literacy, bookkeeping, and accounting support

  • Marketing strategy development, including social media tips

  • Farm-to-institution partnerships and value-added product guidance

    Keep reading for more examples of technical assistance.

The Latest From the Center

What is Technical Assistance?

The Center provides free technical assistance to small and mid-sized farms and food businesses. Technical assistance can be (almost) anything, but below are examples of where the Center can help.

Helping Farmers Connect with Markets

  • Coordinating connections between farms and institutions like schools or hospitals.

  • Building networks between farmers and buyers to create strong partnerships.

  • Helping farmers get their products into stores, restaurants, and other markets.

  • Supporting aggregators, distributors and food hubs to improve local food supply chains.

Infrastructure and Compliance

  • Working to build infrastructure and the middle of the supply chain to open new markets. 

  • Helping farmers with logistics, like storage, transportation, and supply chain issues.

  • Supporting food safety efforts to ensure compliance with regulations.

Supporting Farm Businesses

  • Creating business plans that fit a farm’s unique goals.

  • Offering advice on taxes, payroll, and financial management.

  • Guiding farms through scaling up or finding new opportunities.

  • Helping farmers start co-ops or other community-based businesses.

  • Offering one-on-one support for marketing and branding strategies.

Finding Funding Opportunities

  • Connecting farmers with grants and microloans to support their work.

  • Helping write grant applications to increase chances of funding.

  • Guiding farms through USDA programs that offer funding or resources.

Promoting Sustainable and Climate-Friendly Farming

  • Sharing tips on improving soil health and using regenerative practices.

  • Offering advice on climate-smart techniques to prepare for changing weather.

  • Supporting agroforestry projects that mix trees and crops.

  • Helping ranchers and farmers manage their land and grazing holistically.

  • Incorporating Indigenous agricultural knowledge into farm practices.

Training and Workshops

  • Hosting workshops to build skills, like public speaking or event planning.

  • Supporting farmer-led events to share knowledge and build community.

  • Developing customized training programs for farmers and their teams.

  • Building communities of practice where farmers can learn from one another.

Marketing and Telling Your Story

  • Helping farmers create direct-to-consumer marketing strategies.

  • Providing support with content creation, like social media posts or product labels.

Unique Farm and Food Projects

  • Supporting farmers with niche operations, like bison ranching.

  • Providing guidance on nutrition-related projects and services.

Building Partnerships and Community

  • Offering training and planning to help institutional buyers work directly with farmers.

  • Organizing meetings to connect farmers with schools, businesses, and other partners.

  • Supporting farm-to-school programs to bring fresh, local food into cafeterias.

  • Conducting research to better understand the needs of farmers and their communities.

FAQs

  • Technical assistance is available to anyone for free.

  • We do not share any personal information from clients.

  • Arizona has identified the following as priority areas/entities for investment: Tribal entities, Colonias, BIPOC Producers. Examples of high priority projects for Arizona (projects that meet one or more or the following priorities will be given additional consideration):

    • Project increases processing capacity to allow for higher yields

    • Project improves efficiency or lower water use or energy costs for post-harvest activities

    • Project increases access to markets which can include farmers markets, restaurants, institutions, grocery or value added products

    • Project bridges gaps in the food supply chain, including developing agricultural cooperatives, food hubs, storage, distribution, processing or packaging of locally grown food which will have an outcome of simultaneously growing local food production and increasing access to healthy foods.