The Agricultural Viability Alliance’s Northeast Network Professional Development Days are professional development gatherings for business advisors working with farm and food businesses. Join us to refine your advising practice, improve your financial and soft skills, and ongoing awareness of relevant timely issues for your practice. These events are one-day, in-person events. Participants will engage in a mix of activities throughout the day, utilizing case studies and peer learning activities. For some meetings we will also make farm visits.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

Participation is reserved for business advisors, defined as professionals working with farm and food financials in 1:1 settings. Participants should be actively working as business advisors and involved in the preparation or review of financial statements, or in a program manager role where they oversee such professionals.  These meetings are for advisors of all career stages. Advisors must be working within the six New England States, and/or New York’s Hudson Valley.  Advisors are strongly encouraged to attend ongoing meetings, as these sessions are part of an ongoing peer to peer network of advising professionals.

DATES, LOCATION & COST

June 4th, 2026, 9:30 – 3:30, Upswing Farm, Pepperell, MA

Please join us next on June 4th, 2026, for a visit to Upswing Farm, followed by classroom time and lunch by completing this form (link).

Agenda for June 4th.

The cost for the day is $38, which covers your lunch, coffee/tea and snacks.

About Upswing Farm: Upswing Farm is a diversified vegetable farm growing certified organic produce. After farming on leased land between 2016 and 2020, the farmers purchased a property in Pepperell, MA, previously in hay production, and began farming there in 2021. The farm has 20 acres in production and 60 acres of open class II soils.

These meetings are held a few times per year in location central to transportation routes for our entire region.

For logistical questions, contact Sycamore May,  smay@thecarrotproject.org.

ABOUT THE ORGANIZER AND TRAINERS

The Agricultural Viability Alliance connects farm, food and forestry viability advisors in New England and the Hudson Valley. These advisors work with farmers to build resilient businesses, access markets and farmland, execute business transitions, and achieve other goals. Regionally, we offer a community for advisors to access professional development and mentorship, so they can do their best work. Nationally, the Alliance brings advisors together to advance policy that ensures consistent funding for business assistance — so the groundbreaking work our network members have spearheaded for decades will be built into the sector long-term. The Alliance is hosted by The Carrot Project. Together, we work toward a just and resilient farm and food system, guided by our shared commitment to an inclusive sector.

Heather Weeks is a Business Advisor and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^® for Farm Credit East in the Bedford, New Hampshire office. She is focused on agriculture development, specifically dairy production and management, and has worked in both developing and developed food systems with one goal: create a system for producers to profitably manage their farms using the fewest resources in the most sustainable way possible.

Sam Smith, Director of Business Assistance at the Intervale Center, is an instructor for our upcoming on-farm learning day. Sam leads a team of business advisors supporting farms across Vermont. His work emphasizes financial analysis, farm viability, and resilience planning, with an approach rooted in applied learning and peer exchange. Sam contributes to programs that serve a diverse audience of farm producers raising different products at different scales.

Benneth Phelps, is the Executive Director of The Carrot Project/Agricultural Viability Alliance. Benneth laid the groundwork for many of Carrot’s current programs, managing Carrot’s Loan and Business Assistance programs from 2011 – 2016.  Benneth previously worked as the Director of Farmer Services at Dirt Capital Partners for seven years, where she developed the company’s organizational culture and infrastructure, and its approach to investing in farmland, farms and food enterprises. At Dirt, she developed a track record of making complex land acquisition and transition challenges both simple and achievable; crafted fair, long-term arrangements that allowed farms to expand securely; and provided defined pathways to ownership for every farmer partner. Benneth’s approach of repeatedly rolling up her sleeves to work alongside her clients and partners, while bringing deep listening, expertise and compassion, builds trust and achieves unique outcomes. In addition to her years of experience helping farmers execute business plans, secure farmland, and access capital, Benneth holds a Masters in Regional Planning from UMass Amherst. Before working at Carrot, she farmed in Western Massachusetts’ Connecticut River Valley for close to a decade. She lives in Sunderland, MA with her son.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, through the Northeast Sustainable Agricultural Research and Education program under subaward number ENE25-194-AWD00001359, “Business Advisor Professional Development Through Peer Learning Improves Farm Financials and Resiliency.”