Agribusiness Incubator
Program
Go to
the aip.hawaii.edu website
Our Mission
The Agribusiness Incubator
Program (AIP) seeks to provide business consulting services
to agriculture-related businesses throughout the State of
Hawaii, maximizing their chance of business viability and
success, in order to grow the State’s diversified
agriculture industry.
Through an intensive,
hands-on approach to consulting, AIP will work with
agribusinesses to establish core business plans and
practices, enabling their clients to start a successful
agribusiness or take their existing business to the next
level.
AIP activities are aligned
with fulfilling the following mission statement:
Be widely recognized for having a
positive impact on Hawaii’s agribusinesses by facilitating
our clients’ success through business consulting
Our Methodology
We will help agribusinesses
form a solid foundation for their growth plans, by:
-
Providing analysis of
financial and operational performance, processes and
procedures
-
Assisting
with the development of a Strategic Plan
-
Assisting
with the development and execution of a Business Plan
-
Providing
other planning and project management services to define
and achieve client goals
-
Building an
ongoing relationship that fosters continual improvement
of operations
Background
The University of
Hawaii created the Agribusiness Education, Training, and
Incubation program (AETI)
through a grant from the Cooperative State, Research,
Education, and Extension Service program of the United
States Department of Agriculture.
The AETI program involves a
nine campus consortium of the University of Hawaii system
and provides education and workforce development, business
and community economic development assistance, and market
and capacity building to meet the objective of building
Hawaii’s diversified agricultural market.
The Agribusiness Incubator
Program (AIP) serves the entire State of Hawaii and is
responsible for executing the Incubation objectives of AETI.
What we do...
The Agribusiness
Incubator Program (AIP) helps new and existing
agribusinesses take their company to the next level
through our varied business experience, proven
methodologies, and access to resources that address the
needs of agribusinesses.
Business
Management
Our consultants come from
some of the largest consulting, accounting, finance and
outsourcing firms in the world and can apply their
knowledge, experience, and skills to address
agribusiness management issues.
We assist agribusinesses
with business strategy and planning, helping them to
define, focus, and achieve their goals. AIP consultants
leverage their experience in the areas of accounting,
technology, financial systems, process improvement,
inventory, distribution, and financing and utilize
proven project management methodologies, to help
agribusinesses reduce risk while increasing the
effectiveness of the projects they undertake.
Financial
Management
We strongly believe that
solid accounting practices and relevant, understandable
accounting information is central to helping
agribusinesses make wise fiscal and operational
decisions.
AIP consultants assist
clients establish accounting systems that provide
consistent, accurate, and timely financial statements,
and help clients understand their financial performance
by comparing their numbers to industry standard ratios.
We can then determine
appropriate financing needs and match them with the best
funding source.
Whether dealing with
federal grants or subsidized loans, AIP will utilize
business relationships to assist clients with
applications, development of business plans and
proposals, and the completion of required forms.
Additional areas of
financial assistance would include determining: Cost of
production; Most profitable products; Return on
investment; etc.
Marketing
In our experience, the
average agribusiness is more adept at growing than
selling their products. AIP can assist these businesses
with market/feasibility research for new or existing
products, developing a business case for value-added
products, and with general marketing strategy (branding,
positioning, etc.).
We can also assist with
establishing an Internet presence for the agribusiness
clients, increasingly the preferred method of
communication amongst businesses and particularly in
direct-to-consumer business.
AIP’s relationships with
a variety of State agencies and sales/distribution
channels can open new doors for increasing the sales and
reach of agribusiness products.
In addition, AIP is
involved in community-wide efforts to expand the markets
for agricultural and value-added products.
Technical
Farming
Through our relationships
with the faculty and staff in the University of Hawaii
system, AIP is able to assist clients in identifying
resources that can address technical farming issues such
as disease, product feasibility, and other farm related
technologies and techniques.
Additionally, AIP consultants have extensive backgrounds
in Process Improvement and can effectively review
current production practices and encourage continuous improvement.
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