Webinars & Workshops

The Business Transitions: Exploring Solutions through Cooperative Ownership workshop was held in Phillipsburg, KS in May 2023. A summary of the workshop and presentation is online.

About the workshop

Let’s face it: all businesses, big or small, must eventually transition ownership – or they’ll close. With millions of small business owners across the United States retiring in the next decade, who will take over? Finding a buyer can be a big challenge – especially in rural communities.

This workshop will share how the cooperative ownership model can be a viable solution for rural independent business owners transitioning out of their business. Through the cooperative model, the business is owned and controlled by those who use its products and services. There are thousands of cooperative businesses thriving in almost every sector of the economy.

Curious if the cooperative model could be a good fit for your business or community? Join us to learn about cooperatives and the process of co-op conversion. Rural independent business owners of all kinds are invited to attend.

The Rural Grocery Succession Planning webinar series was held every third Thursday throughout 2022. The recordings are available online.

About the series

Grocery stores face many uphill battles, from competition, to slim profit margins, to high operating costs. But another often-overlooked challenge affects not only grocers, but also entire communities: business transition. In other words, who will take over the grocery store once the owner is ready to move on?

Creating a transition plan helps ensure the grocery store continues operating, even after the owner exits the business. This is crucial in rural communities, where grocery stores are anchor institutions.

This webinar series will dive deeper into succession planning considerations. We will hear directly from rural grocers and resource providers to learn:

• Best practices for increasing business value
• Tips for finding a successor
• How to set up new business owners for success
• Nuts and bolts of emerging ownership models
• And more!

The Keeping Groceries Alive webinar series was held weekly January-March 2021. The recordings are available online.

About the series

Grocery stores are critical businesses in rural communities: they serve as essential sources of healthy food, they drive local economies, and they provide space for community members to gather and connect.

So when a grocery store closes, the community loses out. In order to maintain vibrant rural grocery stores over the long-term, grocers and communities must plan ahead.

This eight-part webinar series presents the steps for completing a successful grocery business transition. In many cases, some form of community or shared ownership model provides a viable opportunity for maintaining a vibrant rural grocery store. Each webinar explores a different topic pertinent to successful business transitions.

This webinar provides an overview of the Double Up Food Bucks program, which is expanding to grocery stores across Kansas.

Watch this webinar to learn:

• How to get started with Double Up Food Bucks
• Technical requirements of the program
• Ways to strengthen your produce offerings through local producers
• And more!

Watch the recording
PowerPoint slides (pdf)
Grocery store application (pdf)

What is Double Up Food Bucks?

Double Up Food Bucks is a nutrition incentive program for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, also referred to as food assistance or EBT) shoppers. Double Up Food Bucks is a $1:$1 match on SNAP purchases of fresh fruits and vegetables. The matching incentive can be used by customers to redeem on additional fruits and vegetables. The incentive is tracked in the form of a digital credit, coupon, or in some cases, given as an instant discount (50%) at the time of purchase.

Why participate in this program?

Double Up Food Bucks provides an opportunity to leverage SNAP and matching funds to increase produce sales at your store. Not only that, but the entire community benefits from the program by having greater access to healthy food options.

Double Up Food Bucks is part of a nation-wide effort to make healthy food more accessible to low-income families. The program in Kansas and Missouri is led by the Double Up Heartland Collaborative , a coalition of partners including Mid-America Regional Council, Kansas State Research & Extension, Cultivate Kansas City, West Central Missouri Community Action Agency, and University of Missouri Extension. The collaborative has received additional funding to expand the number of grocery stores participating in the program.

If you have questions about Double Up Food Bucks, please email the Rural Grocery Initiative at rgi@ksu.edu.