Western Washington Food Systems Partnership

Western WA Food Systems Project Accelerator Q & A

Responses by Maxime Etilé, Aba Kiser, & Emily Manke, NABC

Resources:

Questions & Answers

Q:  When you find private consultants to provide technical assistance (TA) for an Accelerator project, do you help cover the costs for the consultant, or is the act of connecting them with the consultant the main benefit of being an Accelerator recipient?

A:   Regional Food System Partnership grant funding covers Maxime’s coordination work for the Project Accelerator but does not cover any other expenses for providing TA. When NABC staff provide project support directly, or when an Accelerator project recipient is connected with a private consultant, NABC uses other resources to pay for this support.

Q:   Are applicants that are not selected for a Project Accelerator referred to other TA resources such as WSDA, Business Impact Northwest, or other organizations?

A:   Maxime assesses Project Accelerator applicants’ needs and refers them to TA resources he thinks will be helpful, which include partners in the WWFSP Steering Committee and wider networks. Maxime does this for both those who are and are not selected to receive Accelerator TA.

For projects that are in their infancy, it can be intimidating to approach organizations that may be seen as regulatory such as the WSDA. The Project Accelerator can help these nascent projects prepare to approach these large agencies for TA and/or to apply for funding.

Q:  What is the best way for organizations that want to make themselves available to provide TA to let you know what they are able to offer?

A:   If anyone is interested in joining the WWFSP Steering Committee, please complete the interest form on the WWFSP website. We ask Steering Committee members who have capacity to serve on the application review team and provide TA as appropriate.

We invite organizations not involved with the Steering Committee that can provide TA to projects to reach out to us. It is an ongoing mapping exercise to ensure that Maxime has as much information about available resources as possible in order to point people in the right direction for the TA they need. Access to that knowledge of food systems resources is one of the benefits of applying to the Project Accelerator. Business Impact Northwest also is working on a mapping exercise to document what organizations do and resources they can provide.

Q:   What are the requirements and time commitment for WWFSP Steering Committee members?

A:   All the requirements are listed on the interest form. In short, we ask Steering Committee members to:

  • Attend quarterly meetings.
  • Engage with the Lunch & Learn series by attending and promoting these events, suggesting speakers, and presenting on your work if you like.
  • Serve as a reviewer for the Project Accelerator, refer potential applicants, provide TA.

Q:   Are there certain geographical areas or types of projects you would really like to see in this round of the Project Accelerator?

A:   No, we are open to all food systems projects. A challenge is that sometimes we have a good project come in from a county and we may not have the resources in that particular region to help them. For example, several Conservation Districts are part of the Steering Committee, but we don’t necessarily have Conservation District contacts in all 12 counties to provide TA. We would like to expand the Project Accelerator to Clallam and Jefferson Counties if we can find TA resource providers to support projects in those areas.

Q:   Is there a report to share about the first rounds of the Project Accelerator, what resources projects received, and any impacts for their projects?

A:   We don’t have a report at this time. The projects are still happening, but we will be reporting. We have anecdotes from some Accelerator projects such as the Pierce County Conservation District that received TA to apply for grants and they received funding, and the Lopez Food Center that we helped with construction planning and they are close to breaking ground.