Farms and agricultural producers can now get specialized business advice through Columbia Basin Trust’s Basin Business Advisors (BBA) thanks to a new full-time agriculture business specialist.
BBA has been providing free, one-to-one, confidential business counselling and assessment services to businesses throughout the Basin since 2000. “Our region’s agriculture sector has been growing and the BBA team is evolving to help meet its specific needs,” said Lisa Kilpatrick, Columbia Basin Trust Senior Manager, Economic. “By having an advisor dedicated to agriculture, the program will be able to uniquely support their businesses challenges, as well as help residents access local healthy food.”
BBA’s new Agriculture Specialist, Tracey Fredrickson, has over 15 years’ experience advising hundreds of businesses and has particularly focused on agriculture over the past five years.
“The Columbia Basin has a diversity of farm operators with the desire to grow,” said Fredrickson. “After many years providing businesses advice in all sectors, agriculture has become my passion. I look forward to dedicating my skills and experience to working with farm operators on the business side of farming to help them achieve their goals and grow a dynamic agriculture sector for the region overall.”
Agriculture businesses can receive advice in areas such as production costing, marketing and branding, and expansion feasibility. BBA may also connect businesses with more specialized agriculture consultants who can address unique business needs of a variety of producers. This service works in conjunction with the Kootenay Farm & Boundary Advisors, who focus on the science of agriculture.
“Tracey is a great addition to the Advisor team and brings her ‘business of farming’ experience to producers and farms that need help to make their operations more profitable,” said Will Nixon, BBA’s Program Manager. “We have a strong team of business advisors with diverse experiences and skill sets, so we are able to access direct experience to assist a client in whatever their field happens to be.”
To learn more about BBA, visit bbaprogram.ca or contact info@bbaprogram.ca or 1.855.510.2227. Delivered by Community Futures, the program is funded by the Trust, which lists agriculture as one of its 13 strategic priorities.
Columbia Basin Trust supports the ideas and efforts of the people in the Columbia Basin. To learn more about the Trust’s programs and initiatives, and how it helps deliver social, economic and environmental benefits to the Basin, visit ourtrust.org or call 1.800.505.8998.
Community Futures is a not-for-profit community economic development organization that is committed to helping people who are operating or are planning to start their own businesses.
For information on its programs, call 1.250.352.1933 or visit futures.bc.ca.
