Appalachian Center For Economic Networks


As the crisp cool autumn air has come upon us, we are transitioning out of a busy summer and getting excited about the new projects we will be tackling this fall. Thank you for your continued interest and support in our latest undertakings!
Happy Anniversary Frogranch!
 20 Years of Salsa

SARE Funding Helps Farmers & RanchersTackle New Projects

Frog Ranch is a familiar name in and around the Athens area. Frog Ranch salsa and pickle jars line the shelves of many area grocery stores as well as the shelves of household pantries. The Frog Ranch story began with co-founders Craig Cornett and Kristi Hewitt utilizing an old family recipe for pickled peppers in an effort to use and preserve an overly abundant crop of peppers. As the product became a hit among friends  and neighbors the Frog Ranch business was born and the product line diversified. Frog Ranch offers a line of wholesome, high quality, great tasting All-Natural Salsas and Pickles that sell at a rate of one jar per minute in grocery and specialty food stores throughout the country.


Frog Ranch became one of the ACEnet Food Ventures center's first clients in 1994 where they have remained an anchor tenant, producing a range of salsas and pickles. As Frog Ranch celebrated their 20th anniversary and ACEnet celebrates 20 years of providing a shared-use incubator kitchen. Our kitchen is currently filled with a range of clients producing salsa, BBQ sauces, and salad dressings as well as farmers utilizing the facility for seasonal processing and to create specialty products such as pickled ginger.
Several local food producers and ACEnet clients were featured in the recent Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) catalog. We are excited that many of our regional farmers and food producers have taken advantage of SARE grant funding for farmers and ranchers in order to conduct research and develop replicable models for sustainable farming and food processing. ACEnet client Kurt Belser of the Wingnuttery is one of the SARE grant recipients whose research was recently featured for his work in developing a co-operative model for processing nuts.

 

The Wingnuttery
started out as 
a small plot consisting of experiments with various trees and shrubs including pear, apple, hazelnut, black walnut and quince. 

Agroforestry appealed to owner Kurt Belser's inner scientist. As the son of a botanist, an appreciation for the natural world was established and fostered at a young age and Kurt went on to pursue a BS in Integrated EcoSocial Science.In his adult life, Kurt began experimenting with integrating farm scale permaculture, agroforestry and cooperative farm models to make the systems work.

Making Nelsonville More Accessible:

Access Rd Moves Forward 


ACEnet's Nelsonville Business Center continues to grow and expand with the help of amazing partners. The City of Nelsonville, Ohio's Dept of Transportation, ACEnet, and the Buckley Group have joined together to create a new access road into the Nelsonville Business Center located at 294 Harper Street.  This project is the result of a philanthropic gift of property located at 655 East Canal Street by ELM Properties.  

 

This public/private project is a critical step in continuing to increase the flexibility and safe access for the delivery and distribution of products and goods related to the existing and future businesses located in the facility.  With five current tenants and the roll out of a multi-tenant food distribution center, ACEnet continues to expand the Nelsonville Business Center's access, infrastructure, and flexibility to increase economic activity with the continued support of our partners.
Support Your Local Non-Profits: 

Amazon Smile And Kroger Rewards

 

ACEnet is now one of the Amazon Smile beneficiaries! The AmazonSmile program, allows shoppers to select a non-profit for Amazon  to donate proceeds to. To have Amazon donate to The Appalachian Center for Economic Networks, 

visit http://smile.amazon.com/ . When you recieve an email from Amazonsmile you can select ACEnet from a list of non-profit beneficiaries. Amazon will donate donate 0.5% of the price of eligible purchase you make. 

 

Kroger Community Rewards program allows kroger shoppers to chose a nonprofit to benefit. You can create an online account by visiting the rewards page. Select Columbus, Ohio (Athens is included in that region) and you may select ACEnet. the ACEnet organization number is 91159. 

 

We greatly appreciate the support of our fantastic community members. 

 

Cooperative Wellness in Building A
 

The Athens Wellness Cooperative is a collaboration of five wellness practitioners housed in the ACEnet Building A. Their specialties range from a variety of massage therapy techniques to wholistic approaches to fitness training. The Athens Wellness Cooperative was formed with the idea that all clients should have access to services which provide wellness for the entire body, not just one part. People often find that a combination of different treatments can offer them relief from symptoms much better than just one alone. They employ a wide variety of massage techniques and offer Reiki, Wholistic Fitness, and Rolfing once a month conducted by a visiting Rolfer.


 

The Athens Wellness Coop began in 2008 when Building A contained lots of unutilized space. Erin Nash along with Michelle Kerns and other wellness partners began work on renovating the space to be suitable for the cooperative. Family and friends joined in on the effort with dads and neighbors joining in to build walls, hang drywall, paint and organize the space.

Over the years they explored various structures for the cooperative and currently have settled on a model that involves sharing space as well as sharing expenses for advertisement, website promotion, and a shared logo. Other advantages to being coop members comes from having collaboration opportunities with others in the same line of work. "It creates a nicer atmosphere to have people around doing similar work," Jennifer Cochran said. Members trade sessions with one another creating ample peer-learning opportunities allowing massage therapists to learn 
techniques while receiving a massage that they later try with their own clients. Having a network of massage therapists also allows members to offer group or couples messages.  The coop is also a part of a broader network known as the Wellness Circle. The Wellness Circle includes other ACEnet massage therapists not involved in the coop as well as partners who teach yoga, Ki-Aikido, Craniosacral, Qi-Gong, and practice vibrational sound therapy. 

Upcoming Events! 

Our calendars are filling up with events and trainings offered by us and our partners. We hope to see you there! 

 

(CFI)-  Storing Root Crops Workshop:

Tuesday, October 14th 5:30pm-7pm  

Wondering how to store your root veggies (and more!) without a root cellar? Plant Biology Professor Art Trese will share his knowledge on storage solutions for root crops, seeds, nuts, and fruit. The workshop will be at the OU Student Research Gardens (West State Street by the OU Innovation Center). For more information contact cfi@communityfoodinitiatives.org

 

(CFI)- Fun with Ferments Workshop

Thursday, October 16th 5:30 - 7:00 pm 

If you're longing to kraut your veggies or learn the magic behind turning plain old milk into kefir,this workshop is for you! Grace Hall, longtime Nelsonville Community Gardener and dedicated foodie, will share fermenting tips that will no doubt be a cultural experience for everyone. Contact cfi@communityfoodinitiatives.org

 

A four class series on QuickBooks taught by instructor Lynn Abrams-Spilker will be held at the Zane State College Campus. All classes are Tuesday evenings 6-8pm  costing $35 each or 115 for the series of 4. To register call 74-588-1207 or email bhampp@zanestate.edu.

 

Keeping it Simple& Using QuickBooks as a Small Business

Oct 14: A simplified way of using QuickBooks with the ability to grow into using more features as your business grows. A perfect introduction class.

 

Getting More Out of Using Customers &Vendors in QuickBooks 

Oct 21 :Tracking customer history creating estimates and invoices, paying bills and making payment


Doing more with QuickBooks:

Oct 28: How to connect your online banking to your desktop QuickBooks

 

Using More Advanced Features

Nov 4: How to track inventory running reports and customizing meaningful reports


 

Promoting for the Holidays 

October 16th 11:30-1:00- The EDG group will hold a  free Lunch & Learn on business promotion for the holidays and increasing holiday sales. Food will be provided before the workshop. To register contact register contact Trenia Twyman at twyman@ohio.edu or call (740) 597-1460.

 

Collaboration in Local Foods: Making Connections to Grow Your Business

October 31, at the KSU Salem Campus

Whether you are currently operating in or thinking about becoming involved in local food production, processing, distribution, or delivery, this event is for you. The Sustainability Opportunity Development Center and its partners have created a day long informational program that is designed to help you start up or grow your local food related business. Presenters include our Director of Programs Leslie Schaller as well as several other experienced presenters. For more information, please contact Leslie Schaller at leslies@acenetworks.org.
Sincerely,
Myra Morrison
ACEnet 94 Columbus Rd
Athens, OH 45701 
94 Columbus Rd, Athens, OH 45701 
740-592-3854
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