Creative Partnerships Help Communities Thrive

Urban sprawl, technological changes and a lack of profits can make farming and ranching seem almost impossible these days. And for the communities built on a foundation of agriculture, the urbanization of Colorado's farm land and economy leaves them with a sour taste and a threat to their livelihoods.

But Rosemary Biggins starts each day helping Colorado communities turn sour to sweet. As a marketing specialist with the Colorado Department of Agriculture, Biggins believes in helping these communities face change. She believes in bringing more agricultural-based business into these Colorado communities, whether it's helping a farmer start a food processing business that eliminates the middleman and keeps more profits at home, finding a market for their own product, or bringing an agricultural-based manufacturer into a struggling rural area.

"Farmers and ranchers typically get a very low percentage of the food basket price," said Biggins. "Middlemen, such as distributors, make a higher profit. In order to help our agriculturists reap bigger benefits from their life's work, I help them think beyond what they normally do to help them get more value into their product."

A "value added"product means that the producer adds an improvement to a typical product in order to market it at a higher price. A vegetable grower might make salsa instead of selling only tomatoes and onions. A community might build a grain-processing plant to make oil or flour rather than just selling grain. A group of ranchers might create an all-natural beef label under which to market their meat.

"Agriculturists are doing what they know best and have been doing all of their lives," said Biggins. "Farming and ranching is certainly a full-time position. It requires lots of hours and money. Adding to that responsibility can be pretty overwhelming. The farmers and ranchers who are successful in incorporating value-added steps into their business are the ones who find a way to do so without adding more time to their duties or more expense to their operation. We try to find value-added opportunities that don't stretch their limits but help them become more marketable."

For many of these types of projects, Biggins finds herself as a partner with Colorado State University Extension's Center for Rural Assistance, which is instrumental in guiding Extension's priority plan of work--Engaging Communities in Economic Transition. Rod Sharp, chair of the plan of work team, and Sheila Knop, coordinator of the Center for Rural Assistance and plan of work team member, partner with agency representatives like Biggins, representatives from rural communities, citizen-leaders, and other Extension agents to enhance local community efforts. This support of locally-led partnerships enhances the ability of Colorado's small communities and rural regions to encourage existing business retention and expansion, foster value-added home-grown and home-based businesses, incorporate promising, feasible strategies into local-regional economic diversification plans, and address local-regional challenges, among other things.

"It's so important to have a gathering of people at all levels of a community or business," said Biggins. "We need entrepreneurs, business leaders, Extension agents. It's all of those different perspectives and talents that make value-added opportunities possible and profitable."

One program that both Biggins and Knop cite as a successful team effort was "New Gates Through Old Fences." This four-state initiative brought community members, including youth, Native Americans organizations, producers, educators and others, together to help make rural communities and businesses more successful. Yearly symposiums were held that brought together community teams from Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah who had opportunities to share successes, ideas and challenges with each other, including new market opportunities, value-added opportunities and constraints, and ways to work together to monitor and evaluate efforts for continued improvements. Other multi-state initiatives resulted from these collaborative efforts and continue today, supporting local community development plans.

"Many people who need help know what they want to attain, but don't know how to get there," she added. "Part of what we do as a team is to bring knowledge and services to help them identify their needs, assets and resources. And we help them recognize their success."

Photo Cutline: Rosemary Biggins, marketing specialist with the Colorado Department of Agriculture, believes in helping Colorado communities face change. Locally-led partnerships are key: "It's so important to have a gathering of people at all levels of a community or business," she said. "We need entrepreneurs, business leaders, Extension agents...it's all those different perspectives and talents that make value-added opportunities possible and profitable."

For more information, contact your local Colorado State University Extension office.

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Uploaded Tuesday, September 25, 2007

© Colorado State University Extension. 1995-2004. Contact Extension Web Manager. Home Page: www.ext.colostate.edu. Issued in furtherance of Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Milan A. Rewerts, Director of Extension, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado. Extension programs are available to all without discrimination. No endorsement of products mentioned is intended nor is criticism implied of products not mentioned.