Temple University’s Fox School of Business reported last week on its MBA students’ role in the launch of a credit offering for local farmers. Students enrolled in the strategy-consulting course Fox Management Consulting engaged the local agricultural lender MidAtlantic Farm Credit to help the organization define new financing and credit options for a target market of new-generation farmers and local food-system organizations.
MidAtlantic Farm Credit’s new Farm Fresh Financing program is designed to address barriers that producers have faced in utilizing traditional financing options, such as poor or limited credit histories, lack of sufficient collateral, and cultural resistance to borrowing and debt. The organization’s CEO expressed a hope that Farm Fresh Financing would help existing local producers to expand their operations and assist additional producers in entering the market, thus bolstering sustainable agriculture in the region.
This new offering was informed by the recommendations of Fox MBA students, who conducted interviews with prospective borrowers to assess their financing needs and attitudes toward borrowing and delivered recommendations to the client organization. Sandy Wieber, MidAtlantic Farm Credit Senior VP of Marketing, spoke highly of the student consultants’ professionalism and their helpfulness in defining the population that might benefit from the Farm Fresh Financing program.
Fox Management Consulting is a six-credit capstone course that combines traditional didactic methods such as class discussion and case analysis with coaching from an executive mentor and work on a real client project. In teams of 4-5, students work with a faculty partner to determine the needs of the client, conduct market research, develop recommendations and present their findings. Through such course offerings, MBA students gain valuable hands-on experience, and they are positioned to contribute meaningfully to client organizations.
