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By Ron Fitzwater
Just 18 months after the Ashe County Partnership for Children
opened the doors of Creative Food Ventures at Family Central,
the organization has made the decision to close the operation.
Based on information provided to them by an ad hoc committee
that the program was not economically viable, the partners voted
to cease operations effective Dec. 31.
The examination of the program was conducted over the past six
months according to partnership chair Julie Landry.
"We have examined the operations intensively and examined
a number of potential changes that could allow us to make the
program a success, but unfortunately, in the current economic
climate none of the options provided to be the answer,"
she said.
CFV opened as a commercial kitchen with the concept being to
provide a local alternative to farmers and other food-based
entrepreneurs to produce commercial grade products in a certified
kitchen for sale in the open market.
"We have been a board for about 14 years and we use monies
from the N.C. Smart Start Program to provide county programs
for families and children.
"Our Partnership was designed initially to serve all families
and children not just children five-years-old and under as directed
by Smart Start. For that reason we have multiple funding strains,
and CFV was hoped to be one that would be profitable,"
Landry said.
However, according to Landry, the program didn't evolve as hoped
and soon was "costing more to run than it was taking in."
The Partnership had done feasibility studies that suggested
that the program should be successful, but in the end, it was
not.
"Because of the economic downturn and the fact that people
are having to make priorities about how they spend their money,
and starting a food-based business isn't at the top of most
people's list, we had to close operations," she said.
Landry said that one of the major factors that changed from
the planning stages and the implementation stages of the program
was an unexpected reduction in the number of working farmers.
Dating back to the tobacco bailout, initial studies made the
assumption that farmers who were no longer producing tobacco
would move to other crops that could be used for products created
at CFV.
What the studies did not take into account was the unexpected
retirement of many of those farmers.
As the months passed, Landry said that it became more and more
apparent that the Partnership could not keep CFV open unless
they took funds away from other needed programs. Toward the
end the program was losing approximately $5,000 per month and
currently is saddled with more than $30,000 in debts.
Currently, the Partnership is looking for ways to pay off the
debts incurred by CFV and hoping that it will be able to count
on the generosity of their Ashe County neighbors to help them
out.
"One of the most successful campaigns we have run in the
past is our letter campaign. We will be doing the mailings for
that the Monday after Thanksgiving. Based on the results of
that, the board will look into whether or not we need to do
additional campaigns," she said adding, "we are also
open to any generous donations."
Landry said that the Partnership and its board would welcome
any private individuals or groups that would be interested in
taking over CFV and would work diligently to make a transfer
of ownership as easy as possible.
Speaking on behalf of the Ashe County Chamber of Commerce and
county government, respectively, Chamber Director Cabot Hamilton
and Ashe County Economic Development Coordinator Dr. Pat Mitchell
both stated their support of the partnerships decision as the
best response to the problem.
For additional information, or to make a donation to offset
CFV debts call (336) 877-4483. Checks may be made payable to
Ashe County Partnership for Children and sent to Creative Food
Ventures c/o Ashe County Partnership for Children, 626 Ashe
Central School Road, Jefferson NC 29640.
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