Like most entrepreneurs, farmers and agribusinesses face their own fair share of hurdles, from being cash-strapped, to lacking market knowledge, to navigating bureaucratic red tape. Without a network of support, agricultural entrepreneurs may struggle to overcome many obstacles, forcing them out of the business. This is where the South Carolina Agribusiness Center for Research and Entrepreneurship (ACRE) comes in.
This past week I spoke with Kyle Player, executive director at ACRE, to discuss the organization’s mission and role in strengthening South Carolina agriculture from the ground up.
In early 2017, Hugh Weathers, the South Carolina (SC) Commissioner of Agriculture, established the Agribusiness Center for Research and Entrepreneurship as a department within the SC Department of Agriculture. This unique initiative seeks to support innovative entrepreneurs outside of the realm of traditional vegetable and row farmers, promote industry-driven research, and provide workshops on marketing and financial planning.
Entrepreneurship Opportunities
The Advanced Entrepreneurship Program is ACRE’s flagship competition for entrepreneurs. Player gave me a brief rundown of the program. Essentially, South Carolina residents with an established agricultural-related business prepare an in-depth business plan for review. The number of applicants are then narrowed down based on the department’s evaluation of the viability of the business. At that point, the selected entrepreneurs pitch their business to a panel of outside judges. The awardees receive various amounts of grant money, a mentorship with professionals, and business advisors. So far, the Advanced Program has funded 17 entrepreneurs.
To sum up the benefits of the program, Player said, “it’s not just about getting funding from us – we help you network, go after grants, and look for other funding.” She said, “we don’t put a deadline on anything. I am still helping people that we funded three years ago.”
Despite challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, ACRE hosted its Shark Tank-esque entrepreneurship competition in early summer. In June, 32 agribusiness entrepreneurs applied for consideration, 12 pitched their business plans, and seven won. The awardees received funding of various amounts, ranging from $10,000 up to $30,000.
The latest winners brought a range of innovative products and experiences to the table. Kristen Beigay of Earthen Organics is working towards regenerating the soil biome with her rich organic fertilizer derived from earthworm castings. With her latest grant from ACRE, she intends to develop a company website to encourage direct sales to customers. Another one-of-a-kind entrepreneur is based in Anderson County. Michelle Duckworth’s Twin Creeks Lavender is one of the only lavender farms in the state. Differentiating Duckworth’s farm of purple flowers from others is its unique U-Pick feature and selection of value-added lavender products. Her take on agritourism allows for customers to partake in engaging on-farm activities while generating a consistent revenue stream. Duckworth’s business intends to use the ACRE grant to expand their operation by constructing a drying barn.
At the start of ACRE, Hugh Weathers visited industries across the state and found that they “had a complaint that research would stay in the research draw at the universities.” With this in mind, ACRE is committed to supporting research that is spearheaded by South Carolina agribusiness operations. Each year the department is allotted $500,000 for research, most of which focuses on the poultry, pork, rendering, and pet food industries. Through this initiative, ACRE works to bridge the research gap by partnering with various colleges in SC to develop state of the art technology and investigate new solutions that meet the needs of the agriculture sector. This industry-driven research is “done with the sole purpose of getting it licensed and out into the real world,” Player explains.
Challenges of Agribusiness
According to Player, the number one barrier agribusinesses face is funding. Not everyone has a cushion of cash that they can tap into to pursue their ideas, or even have strong enough credit to earn a loan.
The second issue Player suggests is that some entrepreneurs cannot produce the volume necessary to enter retail stores. Often, agribusinesses cannot meet the desired capacity due to a lack of funding, processing equipment, and additional help. Through ACRE’s Agribusiness Planning Curriculum, a condensed version of the Advanced Program meant for prospective entrepreneurs, agribusinesses can partake in five two-hour courses conducted by the Clemson University Agribusiness Extension Program Team. At the end of the course, the entrepreneurs can pitch their business plans for a chance to win a $5,000 grant.
During times of uncertainty such as the pandemic, SC agribusinesses have pivoted to direct-to-consumer sales. Player referenced one of her former awardees that was hit extremely hard by COVID because his product is typically sold to restaurants. Fortunately, when things got rough, her “oyster guy” was able to break into Whole Foods, and now his product is in 45 stores across 4 different states. This is a testament to the tenacity and resilience of farmers and agribusinesses across the country. COVID-19 threw a wrench in the market that skewed food supply chains and left grocery stores bare. But out of all the misfortune, it turned consumers towards local food markets and introduced farmers to a new source of revenue, one that has the potential to become permanent.
The department’s work never ends. On a day to day basis, Player and her team host webinars, go on site visits to check in with their entrepreneurs, connect their entrepreneurs to retailers, apply to grants, and get their entrepreneurs in newspaper advertisements. Player mentioned that under her grant “our number one priority is counties of need.” ACRE specifically seeks to help those in economically challenged counties improve their chances of getting federal grants by periodically hosting free workshops covering everything from planting the first crop to financial planning. Player said, “there are a lot of organizations that support entrepreneurs in the state that people don’t know about.” A substantial amount of time goes into getting the word out and making connections with agribusiness entrepreneurs.
While ACRE is still relatively new, it has made a tremendous impact on South Carolinians since its genesis. With ample opportunities to earn grant funding, ACRE has poured thousands of dollars into hard-working agricultural entrepreneurs across the state. It is the only state-run department in the Southeast “directly giving out funding to agribusiness entrepreneurs,” Player said. ACRE is an excellent model for other states to begin investing in human ingenuity and environmental resilience on their very own land.
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