PROPOSAL LETTER OF SUPPORT & COOPERATION Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture Producer Grant for "Virginia's Zinnias" RE:Virginia?s Zinnias, An Experiment in Cut Flower Farming in Kingfisher, OK
12/06/2007
To Whom It May Concern:
It is with pleasure I write to support the grant requestor, Virginia?s Zinnias.Ten years ago this month, I embarked on a similar journey that would take us back to our farmer ancestral roots as my husband and I opened Van Dyke Zinnias @ Redbud Farms.It has been one of the most pleasurable and successful activities we could have pursued together.
We started with absolutely nothing but an idea and turned it into a web storefront that has been generating interest from all over the world and income we hope will sustain us well into old age.Our ultra-modern, web-based business has its underpinnings tied directly to an activity as old as dirt itself ? agriculture.Combining the two, I have unlocked entrepreneurial creativity I could not have discovered any other way.Van Dyke Zinnias is the smallest of small businesses, designed specifically to target lovers of big, colorful zinnias.I am truly amazed and humbled by the number of customers who feel their gardens would not be complete without our zinnias!
In the same vein, Virginia?s Zinnias is setting out on a wonderful journey to discover things many of us do not know or understand about agri-tourism.I can tell you from our experience, we aimed too low!Each year, we get emails from people who ask us if we have room for tour buses!And do we sell hats, buttons, pins, or tee-shirts with our logo on it!People always want to come out and tour the operation but especially, they want to see the rainbow fields of zinnias dancing in the wind that is always gently blowing across the Midwest of Michigan.To accommodate all those who cannot make the trip, I?I have set up a virtual tour page on our web site:http://www.redbudfarms.com/farm_tours1.htmWe hope you will stop in and say hello if time permits!
I hope it is your intention to support this very worthwhile project.In preparation for doing my part to help this project succeed, I have offered the company half off the price we normally charge for bulk seed as Virginia begins her journey. If project cost share or cash match is at stake, you may put me down for $700 worth of support through product discount.If you go to either of my web sites, you will quickly see I am an avid fan of small business, particularly women-owned small business.Nothing would make me happier than to be able to say I helped Virginia?s Zinnias get off to a good start.Virginia?s experiment is not only an agricultural experiment ? it is an economic model for strengthening small businesses through entrepreneurial networking of same-type enterprises.What better way to succeed than to have a mentor who has already gone where you wish to go?Many thanks for your favorable consideration of this proposal.
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