Media: Jill Lee (202) 720-7939
Public contact: Christine Durbin(202) 690-4369
emo@fas.usda.gov
USDA APPROVES PILOT EXPORT TRAINING PROGRAM FOR SMALL AND MINORITY PRODUCERS
WASHINGTON, Nov. 10, 1999-Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman today
announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will fund a three-state
pilot program in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi to train small and
minority producers in export marketing.
"For many small and minority producers, limited local marketing
opportunities present perhaps the leading threat to economic survival,
especially in isolated or depressed rural communities," Glickman said.
"Exports can provide the additional sales opportunities that may help them
grow and prosper."
The goal of the pilot program is to train participants on the basics
of international marketing to help them identify, research, and take
advantage of potential export opportunities.
About 30 farmers and members of producer cooperatives, processing firms,
and other small and minority agricultural businesses will be trained as
trainers for several organizations representing small and minority producers
in the region. The pilot program is expected to last 2 years.
The export marketing training pilot program is funded through the
Emerging Markets Program of USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service. Additional
funding is being provided by the Southern United States Trade Association
(SUSTA) and the international Small Business Development Centers in the
three states.
Other partners in the program include the state departments of
agriculture in each state and three Historically Black Colleges and
Universities (HBCUs). The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries,
Georgia Department of Agriculture, and Mississippi Department of Agriculture
and Commerce will help select candidates for the training. The HBCU
institutions -- Tuskegee University, Fort Valley State University, and
Alcorn State University -- will help recruit participants and evaluate the
effectiveness of the training, which will be conducted by the international
Small Business Development Center in each state.
The training program will begin in the spring of 2000. Applications
will be available in December 1999 from the following state contacts:
Georgia--Fred Harrison, Jr., College of Agriculture, Fort
Valley State University, 105 State University Drive, Ft. Valley, GA 31030;
E-mail: harrison@mail.fvsu.edu; fax: (912) 827-3062; phone: (912) 825-6344.
Alabama--Miles Robinson or Robert Zabawa,100 Campbell Hall,
George Washington Carver Agr. Exp. Station, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee,
AL 36088; E-mail: zabawar@tusk.edu or miles@tusk.edu; fax: (334) 724-4451;
phone: (334) 727-8114 or (800) 720-8698
Mississippi--Samuel Scott, Alcorn State University,
Mississippi Small Farm Development Center,1000 ASU Drive, Box 1080, Alcorn
State, MS 39096-7500; E-mail: tainans@aol.com; fax: (601) 877-6219; phone:
(601) 877-3948.
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