{"id":182411,"date":"2022-03-02T07:00:29","date_gmt":"2022-03-02T12:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=182411"},"modified":"2022-05-05T08:51:27","modified_gmt":"2022-05-05T12:51:27","slug":"proposed-center-for-food-innovation-seeks-community-input","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2022\/03\/proposed-center-for-food-innovation-seeks-community-input\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposed Center for Food Innovation Seeks Community Input"},"content":{"rendered":"

Agriculture is a $5 billion industry for Connecticut according to a study by Farm Credit East<\/a>. Food-producing sectors of agriculture, which exclude industries such as forestry or floriculture, account for more than $3.2 billion in annual revenue. When factoring in businesses that use raw materials acquired in-state and\/or out-of-state, the total economic impact of all food manufacturing in Connecticut exceeds $8.3 billion.<\/p>\n

Despite making up a hefty share of the state\u2019s economy, at present, Connecticut\u2019s food entrepreneurs do not have a resource to help them establish and innovate with their small businesses.<\/p>\n

The University of Connecticut (UConn) is exploring the creation of a Center for Agriculture and Food Innovation to help businesses in this sector. This center will support startups and established food manufacturers, farm-based or otherwise, looking to expand and innovate with their products.<\/p>\n

\u201cUConn is a committed partner in the state\u2019s goals \u2013 from economic development to preparing a workforce for the future,\u201d says Interim President Radenka Maric. \u201cThis Center could serve as another opportunity for UConn to support growing Connecticut businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

UConn\u2019s College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR<\/a>) is leading efforts related to the potential Center and this effort to gain feedback from the business community through this survey<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn many ways, UConn already serves as a central resource on both agricultural science and business,\u201d says Dean Indrajeet Chaubey from the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources. \u201cWe\u2019re looking to expand our efforts to help food entrepreneurs succeed and support economic development in the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

This work is a collaboration between CAHNR, the Connecticut Department of Agriculture, and the UConn School of Business.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis would be the next step in integrating key systems to accelerate business growth while engaging agricultural producers and food manufacturers,\u201d says Agriculture Commissioner Bryan P. Hurlburt of Connecticut Department of Agriculture. \u201cProviding the resources and training in this manner will not only beneficially impact the producers and manufacturers, but our food system and communities as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team behind this effort has developed a survey for food manufacturers, including pet food companies, wineries, and breweries to assess their needs and help inform the development of a potential innovation center.<\/p>\n

The survey will take approximately five to 10 minutes and can be completed on a smart phone, computer, or other device with internet access.<\/p>\n

UConn seeks to expand support for food-focused businesses in product development, quality control, entrepreneurship training, navigating regulatory requirements, and other R&D needs, says Chaubey.<\/p>\n

\u201cCAHNR is committed to the development of a vibrant and sustainable agricultural industry and food system. These efforts are an extension of our ongoing mission to serve residents and businesses in our state,\u201d says Chaubey.<\/p>\n

Click here to complete the survey.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Follow <\/em>UConn CAHNR<\/em><\/a> on social media<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UConn is exploring the creation of a Center for Agriculture and Food Innovation to help businesses in this diverse sector<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":182412,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2297,2296,147,2298,2354,2224,1715,2304,2299,2300,2301,2302,2303,2076,2235,2306],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2140],"class_list":["post-182411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agricultural-resource-economics","category-allied-health-sciences","category-alumni","category-animal-science","category-cannabis","category-cahnr","category-community-impact","category-extension","category-kinesiology","category-natural-resources-environment","category-nutritional-sciences","category-pathobiology-veterinary-science","category-plant-science-landscape-architecture","category-research","category-today-homepage","category-uconn-voices"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-14 08:00:24","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182411"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":182413,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182411\/revisions\/182413"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/182412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182411"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=182411"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=182411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}