Project Description

The project that this publication represents was originally proposed to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture for a state “Ag Tag” grant under the title “Documenting Value-Added Successes in Tennessee and the Delta Region: Tri-State Case Studies.” The proposal sought funds to assist the Agricultural Development Center in conducting interviews with value-added agri-businesses in Tennessee, and developing case-study reports to summarize the interviews. The Tennessee project was matched by comparable case-study efforts in Arkansas and Kentucky. Taking a slightly different approach, the Arkansas efforts focused on case studies with facilitators of value-added efforts and have been reported under a separate title. Similarly, the Kentucky efforts were heavily focused on profiling horticulture and new crop enterprises, and have been published as individual fact sheets.

In Tennessee, written case studies (the documented success, failure and advice) of other value-added farmers and entrepreneurs have proven valuable educational tools for potential value-added agricultural entrepreneurs. Therefore, the Tennessee approach included the written documentation of the business activities from 12 value-added agri-businesses, reported here.

The actual structure of the interview process with the entrepreneurs was based on a model provided by Dr. Tim Woods, Agricultural Economics, University of Kentucky, which allowed for documentation of:

     • Business Background
     • Business Idea Discovery Process
     • Market Discovery Process
     • Capitalization Process
     • Regulatory Process
     • Business Growth Process

The case-study interviews and written reports were developed to provide full disclosure of the names, businesses, locations and products of the entrepreneurs interviewed. The written case studies provide a brief synopsis of the entrepreneur’s experiences. While no secrets are intended to be disclosed and no personal or confidential information obtained, the written findings are intended to serve more as feature articles than research reports. The case studies are intended to serve as user-friendly educational tools for the enhancement of value-added agricultural and entrepreneurial skills for Tennessee farmers and agri- entrepreneurs.