June - September (16 weeks), St. Helena Island, SC
$8500 stipend
About The Gullah Farmers Cooperative: The Gullah Farmers Cooperative was formed in 2010, and today represents many Gullah farm operations in coastal counties of South Carolina. It is the largest Black-owned agricultural cooperative in the Southeast, and prioritizes serving Black farmers.
The Cooperative’s mission is to establish a profitable, significant local food market for Farmer Members who are honoring and continuing the agricultural traditions of our communities by growing fresh produce. The Cooperative’s facility on St. Helena Island provides wholesale packing, processing, aggregation, distribution and marketing services for current and new members, as well as other local farmers in the Lowcountry.
Agribusiness Fellowship - Description. The Agribusiness Fellowship is an opportunity to get hands-on experience with the business of running a wholesale processing, aggregation and distribution business that connects small farmers to institutional buyers (school systems, grocery stores, food service companies). Managing sales, inventory, pricing and buyer relationships; developing and reviewing financial reports; and ensuring the financial success of this cooperative enterprise are critical elements of establishing a thriving market for small farmers.
Working 35 hours a week with guidance, the Fellow will provide business support for the operations. The Fellow will help the Cooperative build its inventory, sales and pricing systems, and will work with the team to create financial reports and manage the administrative work of the business. Through regular analysis of financial statements, the Fellow will develop strategies to move the business towards greater profitability and monitor success in that area. The Fellow will also support key marketing and sales initiatives, including the build out of the Gullah Grown Brand, buyer cultivation, and more.
This is an ideal opportunity to gain hands-on and business expertise that can support the development of future farm enterprises, community food systems, and consultancies.
The ideal candidate will have: entrepreneurial motivation and farm or restaurant/culinary experience experience; classroom and practical experience working with financial reports and bookkeeping; capacity to develop and track financial data. The Fellow will have up-to-date COVID vaccines. Interested candidates must be willing to live within daily commuting distance of the Cooperative’s facility on St. Helena Island. Please submit a cover letter & resume to gullahcoop@gmail.com by June 3rd.
The Gullah Farmers Cooperative is an Equal Opportunity Workplace.