Customer Insights and Marketing - Emerging Farmer Learning Series
March 18, 2026 12:00PM - 1:30PM
Featured Speaker: Erika Tebbens, Director of Impact, Taste the Local Difference
Hosts:
- Jazmin Bolan-Williamson, Farm and Food Business Coordinator, Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems
- Erin Elly, Technical Assistance Manager, Michigan Good Food Fund
To provide support for Michigan farmers and food business owners, Michigan’s Emerging Farmers and the Michigan Good Food Fund are partnering to host a free webinar series focused on key business topics. This farmer training series will cover a range of subjects, including value-chain coordination, customer insights, preparing for financing, and more.
These virtual sessions will be held on Wednesdays from 12-1:30pm, March 4-April 15, 2026. During each 90-minute session, experienced subject matter experts will lead a presentation before transitioning to breakout rooms among participants. These sessions will be hosted live for interactive discussions, as well as recorded and shared for later viewing.
Meet this Week's Speaker
When Erika moved to Ypsilanti in late 2019 the first things she did were check out her local farmers market and sign up for a CSA, because supporting local food is her jam.
She relocated from upstate New York where she had enjoyed a long, and accidental, career in the world of local food and farming. She worked as the market manager for a large, year-round, organic vegetable farm and later started her own micro farm and apiary called Little Sparrow Farm.
She’s also incredibly passionate about food equity and access. This led her to serve a term on Washtenaw County’s Food Policy Council and regularly do interviews about her family’s experience receiving WIC benefits while her husband was serving in the Navy. In 2016 she had the incredible honor of telling her story about military food insecurity before the House Subcommittee on Agriculture & Nutrition.
Erika brings twenty years of business and leadership experience to the team. She’s passionate about relationship-driven, connection-centered sales and marketing practices; and loves being a catalyst for micro enterprises to thrive. She believes that each and every one of us can change the world in our own unique way, which she wrote about in her book: You’ve Got This! A Counterintuitive Guide to Powerful, Inevitable Changemaking.
When she’s not working she’s probably enjoying nature, baking while listening to a podcast, traveling, knitting, or reading on the couch with her husband, son, and dog Peanut.
About Michigan Good Food Fund
Michigan Good Food Fund invests in food and farm entrepreneurs across the state, offering flexible financing and tailored business assistance to grow a more resilient, inclusive local food system. We meet entrepreneurs where they are, connect them with what they need, and build long-term relationships that help their businesses thrive. As we work toward a more resilient, inclusive food industry, we focus on entrepreneurs whose access to power and capital has been historically limited because of their race, ethnicity, and/or gender. Our efforts are guided by the shared vision of our Stakeholder Board, a diverse group of entrepreneurs, farmers, funders, and policymakers with deep roots in Michigan. Learn more at https://migoodfoodfund.org/
About Michigan’s Emerging Farmers
Our statewide program aims to create pathways to growth and economic opportunity for all of Michigan’s agricultural producers, including small- to mid-sized farmers. This project is funded by USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, in a cooperative agreement with members of the Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems, Michigan State University Extension, and Michigan Food and Farming Systems (MIFFS).
This work is supported by the American Rescue Plan Technical Assistance Initiative program, project award no. 2023-70417-39233, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.
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