Colton Black wants to help provide the Ignacio area’s agriculture and catering scene with that extra economic jolt by fostering entrepreneurship opportunities.
That’s why the Southern Ute Indian Tribe’s economic development manager decided to help start the Píinu Núuchi Farmers Market and Outdoor Business Lab. The new business incubator program and farmers market will begin on Friday and last through Oct. 11.
The weekly event will be held from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Fridays in the parking lot at KSUT radio, located at 15150 Colorado Highway 172 in Ignacio. The outdoor business lab hours will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to help target the nearly 1,000 tribal employees who commute to Ignacio during lunchtime.
“We’re trying to tap into that market to hopefully provide better foot traffic to those vendors,” Black said, adding that Ignacio’s population alone may not be enough to support a “full-fledged market.”
Vendors eligible to sign up include fruit and vegetable growers, meat and baked good producers, skin care product makers, jewelers and artists.
Business-related classes will be taught every week in conjunction with the farmers market, Black said. Curriculum will include how to utilize drones on farms, how to maintain healthy soils to help grow better food products and promote food safety, basic tractor maintenance and an “ask a lawyer” event to discuss the legal logistics to properly structure a business.
“We’ll hit a lot of different topics,” Black said. “… We’ve seen most of our entrepreneurs are kind of in that realm, they’re like beginning farmers. They just don’t know how to go from just being a regular farmer to being a business. So, we’re hoping to help provide some of those building blocks.”
Black said the program will help show people that machinery like tractors can have a business component to it and that entrepreneurship is not just some “scary term.” He also said vendors will be able to sign up on a week-to-week basis so they don’t have to deal with any possible barriers that come with trying entrepreneurship.
Rather than having farmers just settle for selling their products, Black hopes the program will allow them to think and dream bigger.
mhollinshead@durangoherald.com
