Newsy & Noteworthy: September 5

Don’t miss these items in local food and agriculture news from around our region:

 

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE GREENHOUSE (SEG)
SEG is presenting three FREE high-level workshops this fall, designed for the food processor ready to graduate from incubation. (Sponsored by the City of Providence.)

1. Co-Manufacturing for Early Stage, High Growth Food & Beverage Companies
   September 6, 11am – 1pm — RSVP HERE.

   Join SEG for lunch with Jeremy Halpern, co-chair of Nutter’s Food and Beverage Group, to discuss the benefits, risks, and traps of working with contract manufacturing partners.

   Early stage, high growth food and beverage companies frequently turn to outside partners when launching their brands. These commercial partnerships can be a critical part of ensuring a brand’s success – but they can also be a recipe for disaster. Join Jeremy Halpern, a Partner and Co-Leader of the firm’s Food & Beverage practice group for a discussion of the tactical and strategic issues, from both the business and legal perspectives, surrounding contract manufacturing. Topics will include selection, capabilities, value creation, costs, reputation, exclusivity, risk allocation, goal alignment, non-competition, quality assurance, work flow, scalability, recall management, termination, and equity grants.

2. Demystifying Early Stage and Venture Capital Term Sheets
   October 16, 11am – 1pm — RSVP HERE.

   Seeking Angel or Venture Capital investment for your company?
   Join SEG for a roundtable discussion with Will Bernat, co-chair of Nutter’s Food and Beverage Group, to learn the in’s and out’s of term sheets. You will learn about common practices, pitfalls, and market terms encountered when negotiating early stage angel and venture capital term sheets.

3. Commercial Real Estate: Finding your own Kitchen Space.
   November — Specific date and presenter TBA

   SEG will present the basic terms and negotiation strategy for a commercial lease; showcase a few food processors and their landlords who have negotiated successful leases; and highlight kitchens available for rent in Rhode Island.

   Social Enterprise Greenhouse creates positive social and economic impacts by supporting social entrepreneurs and enterprises with the tools and networks they need to thrive. We are a network of business and community leaders who contribute time, expertise and money to create jobs and support positive change through social enterprise.

    
   
   RI FOOD POLICY COUNCIL
   Don’t miss this Legislative and Policy Update from our friends at the RI Food Policy Council:

   Primaries and midterms are fast approaching in Rhode Island. In order to inform candidates about food systems issues in our state, the RI Food Policy Council has developed a A Briefing Book for Candidates and Elected Officials in Rhode Island. We are also working to help voters understand candidates’ thoughts on the food systems issues by asking all candidates for governor and general assembly to respond to this set of questions by September 12th. Please encourage the candidates you care about to answers these questions by forwarding them this link.

   The Rhode Island Food Policy Council’s work is coordinated by a statewide collaboration of diverse, committed and engaged stakeholders from all sectors of the food system. The Rhode Island Food Policy Council creates partnerships, develops policies and advocates for improvements to the local food system to increase and expand its capacity, viability and sustainability.