Webinars

The following webinars, and guides were developed for food and farm businesses as part of the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center. Though USDA Regional Food Business Centers program has ended, these resources will remain freely available. These recordings are also available on Youtube.

To continue working towards transformational food systems change, many of the original partners are collaborating through the Great Lakes Partnership for Food and Farm Development. Learn more about this partnership.

What you Need to Know: Telling a Compelling Story Webinar

Published on December 6, 2024
Through this webinar from the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center, viewers can learn how to share their business story to funders in a succinct and impactful way.
What you Need to Know: Grants 101 Webinar

Published on August 30, 2024
Through this webinar from the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center, viewers can learn about preparing for grant applications, including considerations and tips for writing grants that get funded.
What You Need to Know: Get a jump on grant applications across the Great Lakes Midwest Webinar

Published on June 21, 2024
This webinar presents information about how to obtain a Unique Entity Identifier for federal grant applications as well as information on upcoming assistance and funding opportunities.
Voices of Sustainable Agriculture: Speaker Series

Published on September 23, 2021
Voices of Sustainable Agriculture explores a range of topics and perspectives on sustainable agriculture. Hear from farmers, educators, and researchers in these recorded virtual sessions.
Webinar Series: Loan Preparation for New and Beginning Farmers

Published on March 7, 2021
Loans are an important tool for growing any business and if approached with the right groundwork, can be a beneficial part of your farm business development.
Webinar Series: Food and Farm Business Sales Channel Deep Dives

Published on April 10, 2020
Learn about selling through CSAs, farmers markets, and retail grocery. These webinars provide food and farm businesses with insight into industry adjustments to novel coronavirus and considerations for selling through that venue.
Webinars: Sustaining Your Food Business During the Novel Coronavirus Outbreak

Published on March 30, 2020
These webinars from the Michigan Good Food Fund overview strategies and tips for sustaining your food business and assessing your cash flow in this rapidly changing environment.

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Per the USDA announcement on July 15, 2025, the Regional Food Business Centers program was terminated, prior to its original end date of July 2028. Because of this, the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center halted operations on September 15, 2025 and was unable to responsibly launch the Business Builder Subaward and assistance programs. Please see our related press release. Resources intended to help food and farm businesses will remain freely available on this website and additional resources can be found at foodsystems.msu.edu/resources.

Support for the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center came from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service Regional Food Business Centers Program. The 12 USDA Regional Food Business Centers supported all 50 U.S. States and Territories, and were inclusive of all types of agricultural products produced locally or regionally.