ASD gets mini-grant for women's group, QuickBooks workshop

In December 2016, Appalachian Sustainable Development received a mini-grant from the Virginia Beginning Farmer & Rancher Coalition (VBFRC). This mini-grant will support a Southwest Virginia Women in Agriculture pilot group as well as a QuickBooks workshop.

Funds awarded by the coalition are aimed at supporting the next generation of farmers and ranchers in Virginia. These mini-grant funds are meant to assist VBFRC organizations in supporting the goals of the Coalition while increasing their capacity to either initiate new or enhance existing programming projects designed to support place-based and culturally-appropriate education, training, and networking opportunities for Virginia's beginning farmers.

Mini-grant projects, like ASD's Women in Agriculture pilot group, illustrate new and enhanced programming opportunities to be implemented across the Commonwealth in 2017.

Representing ASD, I am partnering with Amy Fannon, Lee County Extension Agent, to pilot a Women in Agriculture group in Southwest Virginia. These funds are facilitating three farm tours on farms operated by women. Two of the tours have already been confirmed including Teresa Foglesong in Washington County on May 7 and Dena Heines in Lee County on July 9.

There is a deeper purpose to these farm tours. We want to discover exactly how much of an interest there is in starting a Women in Agriculture group within the state of Virginia. As the number of women farmers increases, we want there to be a space where women can share their knowledge and approaches to agriculture with each other.

Sorry fellows, these tours are for women only!

Conversations around the idea of starting a Women in Ag group will be facilitated during these farm tours and within the community in general. Let us know if you and/or other women farmers would like to join us at these farm tours and in these conversations.

A beginner QuickBooks workshop will also be offered as part of this mini-grant on Feb. 27 from 4-6 p.m. at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center in the computer lab room 247. In this workshop, participants will learn how to set up their business in QuickBooks, create their chart of accounts, use QuickBooks as a check register, and create useful reports.

Bring your laptop with QuickBooks already installed and instructors will guide you through the process and answer any questions. Pre-registration is requested and will provide a small stipend to download QuickBooks Simple Start version from the QuickBooks website. By having the software downloaded prior to the workshop, you'll be able to work through setting up your actual farm business in real time and leave the workshop ready to go. This workshop is free and open to the public.

To learn more about the Women in Agriculture farm tours and pilot group and/or the QuickBooks workshop, contact Tamara McNaughton at tmcnaughton@asdevelop.org or (276) 621-1121 or Amy Fannon at afannon@vt.edu or 276-346-1522.