What You Need to Know: Telling a Compelling Story – Resource Sheet
DOWNLOADDecember 9, 2024 - Jamie Rahrig, Julie Jesmer, Madelina DiLisi, Jane Cajuste
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EmailPlease note that this resource now includes out-of-date information. 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 assistances 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.
This resource sheet for the Telling a Compelling Story webinar from the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center will help farmers, Tribal producers, and food business owners to develop a concise and impactful narrative for grant applications. The resource includes six steps to drafting a funding narrative, key takeaways from the webinar, and resources to assist with the application.
Featured webinar speakers, Jane Cajuste, Chicago Food Policy Action Council and Madelina DiLisi, Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems, shared their tips and experiences. They joined Julie Jesmer and Jamie Rahrig of the MSU Center for Regional Food Systems and the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center who shared more about the upcoming Business Builder subaward opportunities.
This webinar took place on October 24, 2024 as part of the What you Need to Know Webinar series.
Grant funding, provided by the USDA, will soon be available across the Great Lakes Midwest. This includes the first phase of the Business Builder subaward program for food and/or farm businesses in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. Over $10 million dollars will be distributed to technical assistance providers and eligible business owners over the next four years.
For more information about future events and resources, interested parties can visit https://www.canr.msu.edu/glm-rfbc/ or email glm-rfbc@msu.edu.
Contributors
- A.J. Ellison, Clerical, Aide On-call, webinar synthesis
- Emma Beauchamp, Communication Strategist, communication guidance
- Melissa Hill, Communication Manager, design and layout
- Colleen Matts, Director, Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center, review and guidance
About the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center
The Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center was dedicated to offering coordination, technical assistance, and capacity building opportunities for farmers, producers, and other food business owners in support of a more resilient and competitive food system. Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems (MI) coordinated the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center comprised of network coordinators – Chicago Food Policy Action Council (IL), Northwest Indiana Food Council (IN), Food Finance Institute of the University of Wisconsin System (WI), and the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and Food Systems – who sought to take a transformational, rather than transactional, approach. Learn more at glm-rfbc.msu.edu.
