Entrepreneurial opportunity could blossom from City Farm TLH program

By Cilicia Anderson
Outlook writer

After seeing the success from its first group of participants, backers of City Farm TLH plan to expand the urban farming program to bring more entrepreneurial opportunities to the Bond neighborhood on the city’s Southside.

As a component of the Vacant to Vibrant program, the City partners with property owners to transform vacant lots into community amenities like pocket parks, community gardens and even urban farming. The initiative is funded through a $150,000 grant from the Knight Foundation.

 A pilot farm is set up in Bond on Kissimmee Street. Partnerships were also created with TCC’s Wakulla Environmental Institute and FAMU’s Small Business Development Center to start entrepreneurial training programs for participants.

“It came about in a way to accomplish several goals; to help address some of the issues and concerns that could be associated with vacant parcels,” said Adam Jacobs, Sustainability and Resilience Manager for the City. “A primary goal is helping to address food insecurity and also that extra component of providing entrepreneurial opportunities for local neighborhood residents.”

COVID-19 has exposed many food-related issues that drastic impacted underserved communities, especially those struggling with food insecurity.

 However, those behind the Farm TLH venture are optimistic that it could help participants create business opportunities through their farming. At the same time, they could affect food insecurity in their communities.

“I think this program and the fact that we are addressing some of the food insecurities in light of the things that are taking place in our economy and with businesses closing, it puts them in a position to see how they can take advantage of opportunities,” said Keith Bowers, regional Director for the Small Business Development Center at FAMU.  “Even though we’re in a crisis, there still are opportunities that if you have a well-thought-out product or service you could take advantage of those opportunities.”

Eleven graduates completed the first phase of the trial project in April, with six of them going on to become apprentices for local farmers and others looking to start urban farming businesses and community gardens. The City wants to help participants with their business ventures after they graduate from the program.

“One of the things we’re looking at is setting up an incubator program so the city staff is evaluating vacant city parcels and looking for opportunities where some of the vacant parcels would potentially be a good fit for the city farm program,” said Jacobs.

 He added that an incubator program could also be essential to the farm graduates who might be interested in starting their own urban farm.

Participants worked with local farmers and TCC’s Wakulla Environmental Institute, which has 158 acres of land that encompasses four different ecosystems. That enables them to learn about what environments are ideal for growing. 

Alexis Howard, a WEI project specialist, said the Institute was considering small plotting when the city reached out. Having the city’s farming concept enhances their aquaculture program, Howard said.

“One of the best things to be taken away from this program is learning how to be sustainable and how to use land that you might already have effectively and efficiently and in a sustainable way that is beneficial to yourself, your community and the environment all in one,” said Howard. “We are now getting ready for our second cohort that is to begin at the end of August and we are currently working to get more funding to expand the program to the Wakulla County region, which is the region that we specifically serve.”

The goal is to expand the program and try to get more people engaged in the sustainable farming sector, she said.

In preparation for the second group of participants, the farm is in a transitional phase, getting ready for the fall garden season. Participants leave the program with a newfound understanding of where their food comes from and how to promote and market their business with the hope that they can take it to the next step when they complete the program.

“If you’re interested in this program, this is a good opportunity for you to gain exposure to business concepts, to learn more about the agricultural business and to also learn more about entrepreneurship in general,” said Bowers. “I would highly recommend it for those who are interested.”

As the program continues to expand, participants and local residents can look forward to some new additions in the coming years to encourage involvement and keep it relevant, said Howard.

“In our efforts to expand it here into the Wakulla County region and just expand the program in general, we also have a drone program and we plan on incorporating sustainable agriculture with drones which is called precision agriculture,” said Howard. “That is something that we plan on bringing out in the coming years and people should look forward to that as well.”