The Working Lands Enterprise Initiative is seeking non-profit organizations or for-profit organizations (hereafter referred to as applicants) to apply for contracts in a specific service area, identified by the Working Lands Enterprise Board (WLEB). While the scope of work for the contract is strategically indicated to be flexible, rather than focused on discrete categories, the outline and range of relevant potential services include:
- Business Coaching across the Stages of Development,
- Enterprise Transitions, Succession Planning, Next Generation Business Owners and Post-Succession,
- Workforce Development – forming an interconnected set of solutions to meet employment needs, designed for personal and professional skills development processes
- COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience: Supply Chain – Improving Adaptability within Markets, broader solutions for VT/regional supply chain impacts e.g., distribution and aggregation bottlenecks, and;
- COVID-19 Recovery: Emerging Market Development Needs - e-commerce, home delivery, curbside pick-up, block chain(traceability), and farmer/forest products to market apps
Funding for contracts will range from $50,000-$100,000 with a focus on to-be-determined strategic partnerships with service provider organizations. Applicants are welcome to apply with a proposal that assists food, farm, forest and/or wood products businesses under a new contract or in coordination with an existing umbrella contract.
Proposals are due on or before the end of business day, 5:00pm, on November 20, 2020 Proposals can be sent as a single .pdf file to Lynn Ellen Schimoler, Working Lands Enterprise Initiative Program Manager at LynnEllen.Schimoler@vermot.gov. Proposals will be reviewed by the Working Lands Enterprise Board. Project decisions will be communicated by email, on December 4, 2020.