AgriProspects Year Two

Year one was a success! It has been a busy year, and we accomplished much, including:

hiring and onboarding regional coordinators
engaging with colleagues across the county for network building
launching round 1 of mini-grants (see more below)
securing a vendor for the clearinghouse that will organize and share Extension’s adult workforce development offerings for the agricultural sector

Year two is off to a strong start as we prepare to announce the clearinghouse vendor and the successful mini-grant applicants. We will also be gearing up to help those projects get underway. We are launching our professional development series with an upcoming webinar (more on that is below as well) and will build regional working groups in the coming months. Altogether the program is off to a great start and we look forward to the year ahead.

Strong Demand for Mini-Grants!

One of the key objectives of AgriProspects is to support the creation, evolution, expansion, and integration of Extension adult workforce development programs in the agriculture sector locally, regionally, and nationally through mini-grant funding. Round 1 of the mini-grant Request for Proposals was a resounding success. We had 55 completed applications and this far exceeded our expectations. Everyone mobilized to get the word out and we thank all the applicants for their interest and enthusiasm.

Several opportunities were offered to provide guidance throughout the process, including an information session, partnership session, final update and Q&A session, and multiple regional office hours. The number of mini-grant applications speaks to the demand and interest in this area. Successful applicants will be announced in the near future, and details on the next round of mini-grant funding will be available soon.

Upcoming Webinar Opportunity

AgriProspects is launching a webinar series to inform and engage stakeholders and share examples of Extension adult agricultural workforce development efforts in practice. This project is an important part of the overall conversation about Extension workforce development efforts nationwide.

Our first webinar will be held on Wednesday, September 18^th at 2:00 p.m. Eastern/11:00 a.m. Pacific. Rob Russell, Senior Program Director with the Business and Communities Program at the University of Missouri Extension will help to answer the question, what is Extension workforce development? Kate Venturini Hardesty, Programs Administrator and Extension Educator at the University of Rhode Island Cooperative Extension will share information about the RI Agriculture and Food Systems Fellows Program, a yearlong, Extension-led experiential learning program for URI undergraduates and Community College of Rhode Island students. AgriProspects will be briefly introduced at the beginning of the webinar and ways to connect will be shared at the end.

Register for the webinar here, and please share this opportunity widely.

Extension Workforce Development

It’s the topic of many conversations happening across the country. What is Extension workforce development? While a comprehensive, overarching framework has yet to be developed, AgriProspects is an important part of the conversation and approaches adult workforce development from three key perspectives:

Everything Extension does is workforce development
Skills are the building blocks
All learning counts

From field visits to classroom programs to online training, Extension helps individuals prepare for life and work in a variety of ways. Key to this effort are the skills learned, developed, and practiced through Extension education. To this end, all learning counts, whether specifically focused on workforce development or on other skills that will help individuals be healthy, well-informed, and productive.

Context is an important consideration as there are numerous programs, projects, and age groups served by Extension. Workforce development programming is essential for the agricultural sector, and self-employed and entrepreneurial endeavors are an important part of that. AgriProspect is focused on adult workforce development in the agriculture sector working with learners, earners, and employers to prepare individuals for employment.

Workforce Definitions

Learners: Those engaged in some level of educational programming
resulting in skills attainment, certificates, degrees, or some of other credentials

Earners: People working in the workforce seeking a way to gain new skills and/or knowledge

Employers: Individuals or companies employing earners and learners

Stay Connected with AgriProspects

Join us to stay connected with AgriProspects! Be the first to receive our national and regional newsletters, designed to support practitioners in various agricultural adult workforce development disciplines. Sign up on our website to stay updated on our work and upcoming professional development opportunities.

Subscribe Here

Special thanks to the Economic & Workforce Development Program Action Team for their support and to the Urban Ag & Food Systems Program Action Team for their generous support of the AgriProspects UAFS Coordinator.

The Extension Foundation is a 501(c)(3) founded in 2006 by Cooperative Extension Directors and Administrators. The service we are providing eligible institutions in this role aligns with our support of the Extension System’s priority programs in workforce development and diversity, equity, inclusion, and access. Membership in the Extension Foundation is NOT REQUIRED for application or utilization of AgriProspects’s services.

AgriProspects is supported through a cooperative agreement between the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and the Extension Foundation under the AFRI Education and Workforce Development Competitive Grant 2023-67037-40533. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this website and consultative support are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or the Extension Foundation.