1. Iroquois Valley Farms
UIC MBA
PA 590 Social Entrepreneurs
Leading Change
Team Challenge

2. Local and Sustainable Food Movement
• Sustainable foods are raised locally by family
farmers who promote the health of their animals,
land and local communities.
▫ Minimizes the energy used in the production of the
food, its transport and storage
▫ Foods come from farming systems that minimize harm
to the environment
▫ Clean, fresh food is a good supplement to a well-
balanced diet and encourages a healthy lifestyle
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates the
local food industry's annual revenue at $4.8 billion
•.

3. Organic Food Industry
• Organic Foods:
▫ Are grown or raised by a producer who uses practices
in balance with the natural environment
▫ Are produced on land that is free of known and
perceived toxic and persistent chemical pesticides and
fertilizers
▫ Are planted on a rotating basis from field to
field, rather than growing the same crop in the same
place year after year
▫ In the case of animals, are not given hormones or
antibiotics, are fed organic feed, and allowed the space
and freedom to behave naturally

4. Organic Food Industry
• Consumer demand for organic agricultural products
has risen in the U.S. 20% or more annually.
• Organic farming operations in corn and soybeans
use 30% less energy than conventional farms and
conserve more water in the soil, induce less
erosion, maintain soil quality and conserve more
natural resources.
• The grass-fed meat industry accounts for an
estimated 3% of total beef consumption in the
U.S., expanding at 20% annually.

5. Iroquois Valley Farms as Social
Enterprise
• In every deliberation one must consider the impact of
the seventh generation – Great Law of the Iroquois
▫ Impacting sustainable agriculture and the family farmer
▫ Creating multi-generational solutions for sustainable farm
ownership ventures
▫ Providing alternative investments that are secured by the
soils that feed us
• Financials (as of 8.31.12)
▫ Assets: $6,500,000
▫ Equity Capital: $4,200,000

6. Marketing Restrictions - Private Funds
Private funds seeking to avoid registration of their securities
under the 1933 Act in reliance on the Regulation D safe
harbor must not sell fund securities by any form of general
solicitation or general advertising.
A communication will be deemed a general solicitation or
general advertisement unless it is directed only to persons
with whom the issuer or its agents have a pre-existing
relationship. This relationship must be sufficiently
substantive to provide a reasonable basis for determining that
the person targeted by the communication is an accredited
investor and has the financial experience and sophistication
needed to evaluate the risks of an investment in the issuer’s
securities.

7. The Challenge
• Redevelop homestead property to promote
Iroquois Valley Farms and engage potential
investors
• Develop market for natural-fed beef and organic
pork in Chicago metro area
• Build brand equity for Rock Creek Farm and
Iroquois Valley Farms

8. Hedgehog Concept
• Huge flow of capital to promote certified
organic and sustainable farming
• Unique opportunity for investors
• High level of investor engagement - meat
delivered to their homes and access to farm
experience
• ROI

9. Working Farm Operations
• 76 acres of tillable land, leased to local farmer
▫ Corn, soy beans, wheat and edible beans
▫ Rotate ¼ plot each year
▫ First organic crop will be in Summer 2015
• Continue current distribution
operations, including combining with existing
farm:
▫ South Suburban Co-op
▫ Irv and Shelley’s Fresh Picks
▫ Kankakee Farmer’s Market
• Rent set at $250/acre = $19,000

10. Natural-Fed Beef and Organic Pork
• Renovate barn and outlying structures
• Beef cattle will pasture on required 25ft organic
land buffer
• Diversify livestock by including hogs
▫ Animals have similar needs; can use capital
investments wisely

11. Barn will be updated to raise
livestock; also offers
opportunity for Iroquois
Valley Farms branding
Farm Initial Investment
Property renovations $ 18,000.00
Livestock
Beef Cattle (6) $ 4,800.00
Hogs (6) $ 3,000.00
Freezer(8x10 walk-in) $ 9,000.00
Total Investment $ 34,800.00

12. Community Supported Agriculture
• Form a meat-only CSA
▫ Members pay up front for 3 or 6 month memberships
▫ Receive a shipment of meat either monthly or bi-monthly
▫ Pick up at pre-determined locations, usually farmer’s
markets
• Offer priority membership to IVF investors
• Distribution of cuts that are not typically purchased in
typical retail settings
• Pre-payment of goods allows for better management of
financials
• Creates brand equity in Chicago and local community

13. CSA Financial Estimations
CSA (based on Mint Creek pricing)
Pounds of meat per cattle 450
Pounds per member per month 10
Members needed 45
Cost per 6 month membership, monthly delivery $ 560.00 $9.33/
Total membership income per 6 months $ 25,200.00 pound
Total membership income per month $ 4,200.00
Meat income
Product Retail Price per # # per animal per animal
Beef $7.80 450 $3,510.00

15. Farmhouse Restoration
• Historically accurate and energy efficient (“green”)
• Adaptable utility
• Chef’s showcase
• Both investor cultivation and stewardship
• Meeting place and connection location for members and
staff
• Exhibition center for local and organic agriculture
(where local and organic come together)
• Rural farm office -- CSA business site
• Rentable for neighbors & visitors
• Showpiece kitchen for cooking demonstrations &
entertaining
• Member fundraising and other special events

16. Western exposure—back porch

17. Suggested floor plan of first
floor with expanded
kitchen

19. Renewable Energy Budget
Geothermal heat
Solar panels—grid-tied
power
High energy-efficient
replacement windows and
doors
Total added costs: $38,700
5-year ROI

22. Brand Image: Community Engagement
Rural IVF Identity Urban IVF Identity
• Community Partner • Unique and lucrative investment
• Good neighbor opportunity
• Showcase property • Business partner with high-end
local restaurants
• Local landlord
• Collaborator with organizations
• Connection to local history
fighting food deserts
• Contributor to local economy • Link for schools of culinary arts
• Supplier of quality meat
products
• “Good corporate citizen”
• Partnership with local nonprofit

23. Paul Virant
Chef/Owner
Paul Virant is the chef and owner of Michelin-star restaurant Vie in Western Springs,
Ill. and Perennial Virant in Chicago. His philosophy of local, seasonal eating stems
from his childhood spent on his family’s farm in Missouri. He credits his
grandmothers, both avid canners, for instilling in him a reverence for local ingredients
and serving as the inspiring force behind his becoming a chef
After graduating with a degree in nutrition from West Virginia Wesleyan College, he
enrolled at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, N.Y.
Following culinary school, he joined March in New York where he further refined his
skills under the tutelage of chefs Wayne Nish and Hilary Gregg. A move to Chicago two
years later marked a turning point in his career as he worked at some of the nation’s
most famed restaurants, including Charlie Trotter’s, Ambria, Everest and Blackbird.
In 2004, a desire to return to his roots led to his opening of Vie in a nearby suburb of Chicago. Utilizing his methods of
canning and preserving, Virant serves up his contemporary American cuisine with a focus on the ingredients – their
origin, production and quality. Since opening, the restaurant has garnered regional and national attention, including a three-
star review by Phil Vettel of the Chicago Tribune and a spot on Gayot’s list of Top 40 Restaurants in the U.S. In the spring of
2012, Virant’s award-winning fare culminated into the release of his cookbook The Preservation Kitchen: The Craft of Making
and Cooking with Pickles, Preserves, and Aigre-doux. It is the first canning manual and cookbook authored by a Michelin-
starred chef and restaurant owner and creatively combines the technical aspects of canning with a chef’s expertise on flavor.
“I wanted to create an extension of my home, where people can come and enjoy good food and drink in the company of people
they care about. My goal is to be a small part of my guests’ enjoyment of every morsel and drop of life.” – Paul Virant.
He has been featured in the Sun-Times, Time Out Chicago and was named the city’s Best New Chef by Chicago Magazine in
2005. In 2007, he was named among Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs and was a 2011 James Beard Foundation nominee for
Best Chef: Great Lakes. He has also appeared on NBC’s Today Show and competed on Food Network’s Iron Chef America.
Prestigious awards to Chef Paul Virant include:
•Best New Chef, Food and Wine Magazine
•Best New Chef, Chicago Magazine
•Jean Banchet Rising Star Chef
•Rising Star Chef, Restaurant Hospitality Magazine
•Rising Star Chef, StarChefs.com

24. “Sustainable and local food has
quickly become critical to the
success of Chicago restaurants.
You can’t survive in this
market without sourcing
locally and being transparent
about where the food comes
from. Its good for the
customers and its great for the
local farms.”
- Chef John
Vermiglio, Graham Elliot
Bistro

25. Sample of restaurants in Chicago
using organic and local-sourced food
• Longman and Eagle
• Nellcote
• Cafe Lula
• Revolution Brewery
• Farmhouse
• Brown Trout
• Perennial Virant
• MK
• Nightwood Cafe
• Ruxbin
• Vie
• G.E.B.

26. Loyal
Potential customers
investors in of high-end
Iroquois restaurants
Valley serving local
Farms and organic
food

27. Other Possible Community Partners
• Kendall College of Culinary Arts
▫ Field trip for students
▫ Retreat center for staff
• Streetwise
▫ Supplier for “Neighbor Carts” providing fresh food to food deserts
▫ Venue for fundraising event
• University of Illinois - New Illinois Farmer Program
▫ Natural fit for IVF
▫ Courses include: land acquisition, business planning, organic production
methods, etc.
• Listing with eatwellguide.org
▫ Local, sustainable organics food suppliers
▫ 25,000+ listings
• Listing with localharvest.org
▫ Real food. Real farmers. Real community.
▫ List in directory and sell products online for delivery or pick-up.

28. Regulation D prohibits general solicitations and general
advertisements only if such communications are being made for
the purpose of offering or selling the securities
• Chicago Public Radio is supported by Iroquois
Valley Farms, a private equity company
promoting certified organic and sustainable
agriculture. Information at
iroquoisvalleyfarms.com

29. Hurdles to implementation
• Specific budget not developed for farmhouse
restoration
• Financial projections involve lots of unknown
variables (nature of the industry)
• Tight constraints on advertising investment
opportunities
• Brand development will take lots of resources, both
in time and money
• CSA markets are growing competitive
• Sales through farmers’ markets labor intensive
• Products have a premium price point

30. Hiefitz and Linksy: Leadership on the
Line
• Managing passionate people
• Addressing deeply held values and ideas
• Thinking politically

31. Websites
iroquoisvalleyfarms.com
cuttingedgecapital.com
bealocalist.org
greencitymarkets.com
buygreenchicago.com
millcreekfarm.com
mintcreekfarm.com
eatwellguide.org
localharvest.org
sustainablefoodrevolution.com

32. Sources and Interviews
• Steven Adler, account executive, WBEZ
• Bob and Barb Benenson, former owners, Rock Creek Farm
• Marilyn Florek, private consultant, Preservation Wayne
• Constance Grizzel, president, Castle Rock Technology Inc.
• Heidi Hedeker, chief pastry chef, Kendall College of Culinary
Arts
• Jim LoBianco, CEO, Streetwise
• Andrew Lutsey, Iroquois Valley Farms
• Aaron Moore, farmer, Rock Creek Farm
• John Moore, farmer, Rock Creek Farm
• Tom Perry, partner, Iroquois Valley Farms
• John Vermiglio, sous chef, Graham Elliott Bistro
1. King, P. (2010, June 10). Ordering Up Beef That Roamed
The Range. Wall Street Journal