From Idea to Income: How Sierra Commons’ Food Accelerator Program is Supporting Rural Entrepreneurs in Nevada County
“So far as I can see, the idea of a local economy rests upon only two principles: neighborhood and subsistence.”
— Wendell Berry, The Idea of a Local Economy
Food is an essential source of health and resilience, and its scale of impact is not limited to the individual level. Strong food systems are equally foundational to the economic and social strength of our communities.
We Prosper Together is building a thriving, sustainable economy in California’s Capital Region through cross-sector collaboration and strategic investments guided by the Regional Plan. A core focus of the initiative is to create high-quality jobs and connect community members to accessible economic opportunities.
Enabled by the California Jobs First program, We Prosper Together awarded $9 million across twenty-two community-driven projects to advance the region’s shared goals. One of those initiatives is Cultivating Resilient Rural Food Ecosystems, led by Nevada City based Sierra Commons, which provides local food entrepreneurs with the skills, tools, and networks needed to grow a viable business. A core component of the initiative is the Food Accelerator Program, a 4-week course designed to help local entrepreneurs turn food business ideas into successful operations.
We Prosper Together recently sat down with Food Accelerator Staff and a recent program graduate to discuss how the initiative is strengthening Nevada County’s local economy, bringing business ideas to life, and advancing our vision of a thriving Capital Region.
Jess Swigonski is a Program Manager at Sierra Commons. As a Nevada County resident, she knows firsthand the unique challenges faced by rural communities.
She’s seen the impacts of supply chain shortages, business turnover, and the economic hit that small businesses took during the COVID-19 pandemic. To her, the need to support small communities’ access to local food is clear.
“That’s what fired me up about the work that Sierra Commons does,” she told us. “We’re really trying to provide the structure, the mentorship, the local connections that can help local entrepreneurs turn business ideas into a sustainable, real-world venture.”
As one of Sierra Commons’ mission-critical programs, Food Accelerator aims to make that vision a reality.
Participants receive hands-on training, personalized mentorship, and opportunities to connect and collaborate with Nevada County’s food network. The program addresses common challenges related to business development and economic mobility, helping position students for long-term success.
Catalyst funding is helping scale up internal operations to launch new programs, support staff, and build internal capacity, as well as offering scholarships to participants with financial need. Through the Catalyst program, Food Accelerator has been able to deprioritize fundraising and prioritize recruitment, mentorship, and development of students.
“Food businesses don’t exist outside of community”
— Mani Niall, Food Business Advisor
Mani Niall, an entrepreneur himself, is the Food Accelerator Program’s lead facilitator. Since 2020, he has worked as a Small Business Development Center (SBDC) advisor with hundreds of food-centered small businesses. He says his experience within the community has been invaluable in how he approaches his advisory work.
“I find that book knowledge is maybe 10 to 20 percent of it,” He explains. “Hands-on experience is 80 percent.”
Living up to its name, the fast-paced course takes students through 10 classes within four weeks, including a speaker series, and ends with a product pitch and showcase.
Students learn how to scale formulas and food costing, how to get products onto store shelves, and how to get their businesses sales-ready. Through the program’s networks, students also have the opportunity to engage with the Nevada City Health Department, and learn directly from other entrepreneurs through business models and case studies. Upon completion of the program, participants can hit the ground running.
“Once we hear that creative, passionate drive of what they want to do, then we realize, hey, let’s not have this be a food hobby, let’s have this be a food business,” Niall says. “By the end, people have the chance to stand up and talk about their business.”
Niall gets especially excited about the program’s scale and diversity. With projects from so many sectors of the food ecosystem, the Food Accelerator program represents an entire community of sustainable business ventures. Students can collaborate, both learning from and teaching each other throughout the program.
“Food businesses don’t exist outside of community,” he explains. “Everybody shares who they are, what they’re working on; and there tends to be overlap: ‘I’ve done this before, I can help you with that.’ It breaks down the wall so a group of strangers can bond.”
In line with this goal, the Food Accelerator program prioritizes accessibility for students from all walks of life. The program is primarily virtual, with opportunities to connect in person. This allows students from across Nevada County, which is notably divided by a mountain pass, to participate equally. Classes are recorded to allow for asynchronous participation, and student resources are all made available online.
With class sizes of about 12 students, participants get hands-on, individualized mentorship tailored to their specific ventures. Both Niall and Swigonski emphasize that to get businesses off the ground, it’s not only important to get actionable guidance, but also to have opportunities for making meaningful connections.
“As well as providing practical support, a huge part of it is community building and getting these people together and connected with one another,” says Swigonski.
“We develop a network with them,” Niall adds. “We create the parameters in our learning hub and resource guide for students to purchase wholesale ingredients, we even have a session with lenders. . . We’ve cultivated great connections in that area.”
The program connects students to free SBDC services, one-on-one sessions, and even non-traditional lenders who specialize in loans smaller than $150,000.
Since the program’s launch, alumni are already seeing success.
“I thought that I would need so much more to do… I’m like, wait, actually, I’m halfway there.”
“I’ve been sharing with other people. Like, oh, hey, actually you can do this!… When we learn and share things, everybody’s getting that knowledge.
— Bia Navarro, Food Accelerator Program Graduate
Bia Navarro is a recent graduate of the Food Accelerator Program, which she used to develop her small business Bia’s Brazilian Bites, a one-woman-show bringing Brazilian culture and cuisine to Nevada County.
Navarro calls herself a “cultural barrier breaker,” seeing food as a means to foster connection.
“Just like artists, we don’t think money,” she says. “We think of giving art and joy. Food is a part of art as well.”
Navarro came into the program with a degree in event management and experience as a personal chef, but was apprehensive about building, scaling, and remaining in compliance as a small business. She worried about how to secure funding, market her existing skills and passions, and plan for the future.
But through the program, she forged a clear path forward for Bia’s Brazilian Bites in just four weeks. Not only had she learned for herself how to build and scale, but she’d been able to impart her own wisdom onto other aspiring entrepreneurs.
“I feel like I grew so much this month, all the knowledge I’ve been sharing with other people … when we learn things and share things, everybody’s getting that knowledge as well,” she says, complimenting the program’s comprehensive curriculum with classes that build off of each other.
Through the actionable advice, connections, and resources afforded to students through the Food Accelerator Program, she learned that her existing experience could already take her far.
“I thought that I would need to do so much more than what I’m already doing,” she remembers. “But then I was like, wait, actually, I’m halfway there. I’m so close, there’s just a couple of other things and I’m good to go.”
Niall says that seeing participants build this kind of confidence is one of the most rewarding parts of the program.
“I can literally see the change in demeanor over the course of the class,” he says. “[One student] said, working with you gives me such a sense of security, and I feel like someone has my back. With those personal asides you see the difference that the program has made in their life and their approach to their business.”
Navarro’s vision for her business, and her own future, is one that integrates culture, education, and community support. She imagines experiences where every bite comes with a story about the cultures behind the food and the people who make it, and aspires for a future where funds raised through her food business could go toward educational campaigns, and production could be scaled to support the community in times of need.
Success stories from the Food Accelerator program were on full display at Sierra Commons’ Resilience Through Rural Entrepreneurship summit, where attendees sampled food and drink from various graduates’ ventures, from coffee and tea to lunch and cookies.
Swigonski calls the summit a full-circle moment. “It brought different folks who had gone through our programs to then be providing food and nourishment that’s healthy, sustainable, and local to stakeholders who are from around the region.”
Swigonski has been to her fair share of conferences, noting that food is rarely an event highlight. But at Resilience Through Rural Entrepreneurship, food and drink took center stage.
“People came up to me like, ‘Who did the sandwiches? Who did the cookies?’ It was really cool to be like, Petra did. You can go and buy her hummus!”
Not only were attendees excited about eating and learning about what they were sampling, but they could interface directly with the people who had made it… And even make a purchase that same day to support a fledgling local business.
Attendees left with new quality food favorites while having learned the story behind these local businesses closing the loop from learning to livelihood.
“That was a really beautiful community moment, where we got to show off our local entrepreneurs and really make that come alive,” Swigonski smiles.
“That is the absolute ultimate,” Niall agrees. “To be able to go and eat the food of the people that you’ve worked with.”
Reflecting on the impact of the program, Niall finds meaning in the alumni who are just starting out, and also in the alumni who continue to engage years later, who continue to work at fostering their ventures. He’s empowered once-shy participants to find their voices; he’s empowered entrepreneurs to no longer feel alone. And now, he can stop by the shops of those entrepreneurs to pick up tortillas for the week; to try a new kind of hummus; to grab his morning coffee.
Niall and Swigonski say the Food Accelerator Program is set to expand from here.
“[T]he goal is to ultimately be able to say, this is what we did; you can do it too, in your community. It’s all in service of creating a more resilient rural food system.”
The program plans on expanding their learning hub to offer more resources as well as an online community space for discussion and resource-sharing. There are plans underway for exciting features in an expanded speaker series, collaborations with alumni businesses, and expanding access to broader audiences.
For the first time, the Food Accelerator program is able to build on its core components to offer a track for graduates to further their studies, or for those with more experience to enter the program with prerequisites.
With so many exciting things on the horizon, Niall and Swigonski emphasize that the program’s goal will remain the same.
“As we’re working through [expanding] this program, the goal is to ultimately be able to say, this is what we did; you can do it too, in your community,” explains Swigonski. “It’s all in service of creating a more resilient rural food system.”
Enrollment is now open for Food Accelerator 102, a next-stage program supporting food entrepreneurs as they continue to build and strengthen their businesses. Scholarships and childcare stipends are available for those who need them.
To learn more about the Food Accelerator Program, visit https://www.sierracommons.org/food-accelerator
To learn more about We Prosper Together, visit https://www.weprospertogether.org/