Southwest Regional Food Business Center

Capacity Building

The Center provides financial assistance through Business Builder subawards to support projects focused on regional needs and businesses that are working towards expansion and other investment. These sub-awards support post harvest staff time, business planning activities, software implementation, the purchase of special purpose equipment-such as food safety or refrigeration, processing and packaging equipment-and value chain coordination, and other expenses. To date, we have awarded 70 farm and food businesses across our region.

Funded by USDA, the Southwest Regional Food Business Center announced 73 Business Builder Awards in 2025 and 2026 to small and mid-sized farm and food businesses across the Southwest region.

Coordination

The Southwest Regional Food Business Center acts as a regional hub, coordinating across California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and other federal, state, and tribal agencies. The Center engages with a diverse network of partners to develop and implement strategic targeted plans for technical assistance and capacity building that serves the region’s underserved communities and businesses.

Technical Assistance

The Southwest Regional Food Business Center provides direct business technical assistance to small- and mid-sized food and farm businesses (producers, processors, aggregators, distributors, and other businesses within the food supply chain) and food value and supply chain coordination. The following needs were complied by a needs assessment conducted in 2023 across state of California.

Business Development & Planning

• Financial literacy: Help producers and food businesses understand financial management, budgeting, and cost analysis.
• Business plan development: Assist small enterprises in creating scalable business models, exploring market opportunities, and planning for sustainable growth.
• Access to capital: Provide guidance on funding opportunities (e.g., grants, loans, investors) and how to prepare for funding applications.

Marketing & Market Access

• Market analysis: Help producers assess local, regional, and national market trends, and identify niches.
• Marketing strategies: Assist in developing branding, social media, and promotional strategies.
• Distribution & logistics: Guide businesses on effective supply chain management and distribution networks.
• Export opportunities: Provide knowledge on expanding into regional and international markets (e.g., USDA’s export programs).

Food Safety & Compliance

• Regulatory compliance: Provide guidance on federal, state, and local food safety regulations (e.g., USDA, FDA).
• Certification assistance: Compliance with Food Safety Standards: Key regulatory standards, including HACCP, GMP, and FSMA. Support in obtaining necessary certifications such as organic, fair trade.

Sustainability & Resilience

• Sustainable farm to market and food processing practices: Through communities of practice, mentoring and sharing current research, we advance practices that are sustainable.
• Climate resilience: Focus on market advancement for sustainable producers and enterprises that advance regional small producer and enterprises incorporating  regenerative, sustainable and organic practices. 

Workforce Development

• Training programs: Develop skills-based training programs in food production, processing, and distribution for the regional workforce.
• Leadership development: Build leadership capacity among small producers and entrepreneurs.

_{“We are very excited to work with an amazing array of public and private sector partners to support innovative food systems’ initiatives and efforts that help farmers and food businesses to grow, thrive, and enhance food security for our communities.”}

_{— Glenda Humiston, University of California Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources}

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