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| Purdue Extension specialists
provided the business and technical expertise that enabled entrepreneur
Jose Morales to launch a successful food products business,
which, in turn, created jobs in a rural Indiana community. |
A white building, located next to the railroad
tracks in the small, southwestern Indiana town of Jasonville, Ind.,
was vacant in the spring of this year. The room-size coolers, industrial
mixers and cookers inside sat idle.
Now the building is again full of workers who
move briskly from one room to another, using the once-dormant space
and equipment to make personal-size pizzas for the Dade County,
Fla., school system.
Indiana entrepreneur Jose Morales put the facility
back into production and people in a rural community back to work
by turning an idea into a successful food products business.
None of this would have been possible, however,
without the help of Purdue Extension and its team of specialists
and educators who provide research-based information and educational
programs to support new ventures.
“Extension has the opportunity to become
a major player in helping with Indiana’s top priority—economic
development,” says Sam Cordes, Purdue Extension program leader
for leadership and community development.
Food for thought
Purdue Extension specialists Kirby Hayes and
Maria Marshall help entrepreneurs like Morales move from product
idea to product development. Hayes, a food science specialist, and
Marshall, whose expertise is in rural business development, work
in tandem. Hayes focuses on the technical aspects of production,
while Marshall advises clients about business and marketing.
It’s a partnership that works well. Earlier
in the year, the duo taught a specialty food and food ingredients
workshop in Indianapolis for fledgling entrepreneurs. And, while
only four of those in attendance made the decision to move ahead
with their ideas, Hayes points out that the low ratio is a good
thing.
“Those numbers are pretty average for entrepreneurs,”
he says. “It means that we asked the right questions and saved
several people from jumping into situations that weren’t going
to work out for them. Asking hard questions that make entrepreneurs
think of contingency plans and discussing alternatives is an important
part of what we do.”
Morales was one of the four individuals who decided
that they were prepared to forge ahead. “The help I got was
very hands on,” he says from his office at Momentum Foods.
“I don’t know how many times Kirby came down here. There
was a lot of back-and-forth with trips, phone calls and faxes.”
During a visit to Morales’ plant in April,
Hayes and Marshall spent time walking through the facility, envisioning
production lines and showing Morales where improvements were needed.
Afterward, they sat down and talked with him about the economics
of starting a food business and the regulatory and financial issues
that he should consider.
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