🚀 lunch. learn. lavender. Come celebrate Delmarva agriculture at producers unveiled 2024! 🌱

Find the CAIC program that’s perfect for you

Producers Growth Program

Join our six-month Producers Growth Program to get the knowledge, resources, and tools to scale your businesses. Through one-on-one advising sessions, classes taught by subject matter experts, and hands-on assignments, you’ll develop and execute your scaling strategy.

The Chesapeake Agriculture Innovation Center (CAIC) is a non-profit supporting Delmarva's farmers, value-added producers, and food and beverage manufacturers. Through access to training, consulting, and capital.

HOW DO WE DO IT?

Educating producers at all stages. From our idea-stage Startup Program to our scaling-focused Producers Growth Program, we’ll equip you with the skills you need.

 

Connecting farmers and entrepreneurs. Connect with and learn from a vibrant community of fellow business owners through our programs.

 

Empowering business growth. Our team of advisors offer funding assistance, market research, business planning, and other services tailored to your needs.

RECENT blog postS

The Top Five Reasons to Attend Producers Unveiled 2024

Grab your (free) tickets! Registration is open for this year’s Producers Unveiled, scheduled for Wednesday, April 17. CAIC’s annual culminating event celebrates our extraordinary program attendees and alumni, allowing them to showcase their products and share their stories of success. It’s also a perfect opportunity

CAIC Alumni Spotlight: Hope’s Caramels

Welcome to the first installment of our #AwesomeAlumni series, which will highlight some of the remarkable people who have participated in CAIC programs! For Delaware-based Hope’s Caramels, whose co-founder Brady Shuert was a member of the inaugural Producers Growth Program cohort in early 2023, the

Chickens

CAIC in the Community: The 2024 Future Harvest Conference

For the CAIC team, the 2024 Future Harvest Conference was a perfect opportunity to get the new year started right. With a theme of “Nourish & Flourish From the Ground Up,” the event brought together more than 300 attendees from the Delmarva agricultural industry. Here

FUNDERS

These Partners Help Bring Entrepreneurship and Innovation to the Delmarva region.

SIGN UP FOR NEWS AND UPDATES

EXPLORE MORE

ADVISORS and trainers

GET TO KNOW OUR business advisors and trainers WHOSE EXPERIENCE AND INSIGHTS help BUSINESSES WORK.

PROGRAMS

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF PROGRAMS DESIGNED TO HELP YOUR BUSINESSES COMMERCIALIZE AND ACHIEVE SUCCESS.

Loading RSS Feed

MINI-GRANTs

Mini-Grants up to $5,000 are available for:
– Market Research and Validation of Target Market
– Customer Acquisition
– Product Development Initiatives
– Food Safety Classes
Eligibility
Value-added producers and companies with traction ($20,000 or more in yearly revenue) in Maryland and Delaware are eligible to apply for Mini-Grants. Participants may apply once for each of the categories. Applicants must demonstrate that they have a unique and differentiated product or service that incorporates an aspect of innovation or technology in its production, processing, distribution, or other element of the food supply system.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Award decisions will be made and funds will be available no later than three weeks following the receipt of a completed application.
Application Process
Applicants must submit Mini-Grant proposals by filling out the form at this link. Copy(ies) of quote(s), proposal(s), estimate(s), or any other supporting documents.

ACCESS TO SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS (SMES)

CAIC offers access to Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) who can offer authoritative advice based on their deep knowledge and experience in a specific area. See the ADVISORS page of this Web site to learn more about the SMEs who are available to CAIC participants.