Mission Mountain Food Enterprise Center in Ronan, Montana

The Mission Mountain Food Enterprise Center (MMFEC)http://www.mmfec.org/ ,37 a
division of Lake County Community Development Corporation
in Ronan, Mont., has operated a food business incubator since
the year 2000.

MMFEC offers processing facilities, marketing
support, cooperative development assistance and other business
development services. It houses a commercial processing
footprint, a USDA-approved meat room, a production room, a
packaging room, and a grain milling room and warehouse.
In 2009, MMFEC initiated a Farm to Institution project,
raising public and private funds to purchase vegetable
processing equipment and to conduct an evaluation of the
Center’s operations. In 2011 MMFEC launched its Farm to
Institution program through the support of a Montana Rural
Food Corps service member.

MMFEC has worked closely with Western Montana Growers
Cooperative, a producer-owned marketing and distribution
cooperative, to evaluate the feasibility and processing costs
for freezing locally grown products including apple wedges,
cubed winter squash, shredded zucchini, and pitted cherries,
and various fresh items for area schools that participate in the
federal Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program.

MMFEC tracks their raw product costs, labor, equipment
and distribution costs and compares them with school price
points to assess the economic viability of potential products.

Full Story on page 29: http://www.matr.net/files/IATPReportDecember2012.pdf

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Yet another kudos for the food enterprise center and its leadership (national recognition) in the developing farm-to-school programs. This follows directly on the heels of the recent award of $100,000 from USDA to support further development and implementation of the program throughout western Montana..

Billie

Billie Lee, Executive Director

Lake County Community Development

406-676-5901