Cureate Courses - NW Arkansas

Join Our Free 8-Week Educational Program and Become a Featured Vendor at the Emerge NWA Food Festival at The Momentary

At Cureate, we often say: you may know how to make jam, but may not know how to run a jam business. Complex steps are required to start and grow a small business — from branding and marketing strategy to exploring new growth channels. And, while as a small business owner, you may offer products and services that meet customer needs, you may not have the systems in place to take advantage of meaningful sales opportunities. That’s where Cureate Courses comes in — join us!

Offered in English and Spanish! Habrá traducción al español disponible para todas las sesiones virtuales y las tareas.

Applications open Nov 1 - Jan 8, 2027

Apply Now (English)
Aplicar Ahora (Español)

Is My Business a Fit for
Cureate Courses - Northwest Arkansas?

Are you a farm, food, or beverage business looking to grow in, or expand into, NW Arkansas?

Cureate Courses - NWA supports new & small businesses from Arkansas and surrounding counties in Oklahoma and Missouri in the following sectors. Applications for the Spring 2027 cohort are open through January 8, 2027. We’re looking for local food & beverage businesses in the following industries:

  • Farmers

  • Value-Add Producers

  • Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)

  • Beverages

  • Bakers

  • Caterers/Prepared Foods

  • Restaurateurs/Food Trucks

The program includes live, weekly sessions with industry experts. In addition, cohort participants will be paired with students from University of Arkansas’ ‘Hospitality Finance and Profit Optimization’ course, who will serve as consultants to help your business identify and implement data-driven financial management principles and profit optimization strategies in your food business!

The program concludes with our community-centered capstone event Emmerge NWA Food Festival where you get to showcase your business’ growth and sell your products to real customers — plus two businesses will walk away with a $5,000 cash prize!

Spaces are limited. Apply today!

Apply Now (English)
Aplicar Ahora (Español)

Cureate Courses NWA In Action

Impact Video: Cureate Eclipse Food Festival Spring 2024

Impact Video: Cureate Eclipse Food Festival Spring 2024

Farm-to-Table Capstone Event

Cureate Courses Pitch Showcase

Meet Some of Our Recent Graduates!

View All Courses NWA Alumni
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FORGE, Inc. presents Cureate Courses - Northwest Arkansas

FORGE is the oldest revolving community loan fund in Arkansas. FORGE's mission is to promote community development and economic sustainability by linking investors with borrowers, urban and rural communities, consumers with producers, and low income groups with basic affordable credit.

FORGE, Inc. is supported by:

 

Are You Ready for Cureate Courses?

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Cureate Courses is for food and farm entrepreneurs looking to diversify their revenue streams and grow into new sales channels. Are you a farmer looking to develop value-add products or grow into wholesale? Or perhaps you’re a caterer, restaurateur or food truck owner who is looking to diversify their revenue streams? You are a food, beverage, and/or farm entrepreneur, in our local food supply chain, who has been building a business — and now you’re ready to take it to the next level. We have a focus on supporting underrepresented founders, which includes women and BIPOC-owned businesses.

Classes are held once per week for 1.5 hours virtually, followed by an end of program event to showcase your business growth! At this event, two businesses will walk away with a $5,000 cash prize.

 
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Sample Cureate Courses Curriculum

  • Kick-Off Class: Defining Your Why (in-person)

  • Establishing Your Unique Value Proposition (virtual)

  • Developing Your Brand and its Positioning (virtual)

  • Identifying Growth Opportunities, B2B & B2C (virtual)

  • Tips On Winning Over Buyers (virtual)

  • Product Pricing Best Practice (virtual)

  • Pitching Your Small Business (virtual)

  • 2 Weeks to Prep & Practice Your Pitch (virtual/in-person)

  • Graduation Pitch Competition & End of Program Showcase (in-person)

Your Commitment:

Enrolled businesses are to complete online video modules and worksheets prior to each workshop. All virtual workshops will be held via Zoom, and peer learning & resource sharing. Each business will receive a total time of instruction between online courses and virtual workshops between 2-3 hours per week, plus an additional 2 hours over the course of the program dedicated to executive leadership coaching. With work to be completed pre- and post- workshops, the worksheets and peer review, an additional 4 hours is suggested. This totals to approximately 6-8 hours per week commitment by each business.

 

The Perks

This program is FREE of cost to selected entrepreneurs

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At the end of each cohort, there will be a pitch competition with a $5,000 cash prize!

  • Cohort participants will also be paired with students from University of Arkansas’ Hospitality class, who will serve as consultants to help your business identify and implement sustainable solutions for your food business! We’ll match entrepreneurs with students based on interests and skills.

  • After completing the program, businesses will have the opportunity to participate in a Capstone event where we will invite the community, media, and Buyers to taste & sample goods produced by the graduates in order to hopefully land more sales!

  • Graduates of Cureate Courses will have a direct pipeline and potential access to funding via FORGE. Our program is designed to pinpoint how you're looking to grow and what you may need in order to get there.

  • Graduates of Cureate Courses will have a direct pipeline to becoming a registered vendor on Cureate Connect, Cureate’s proprietary local procurement platform, with the opportunity for new sales opportunities.

  • Cohort members are encouraged to stay engaged with one another after graduation, becoming part of the larger Cureate Community, which extends across 4 territories and 7 states!

 

MEET YOUR TEAM

  • KIM BRYDEN

    FOUNDER, CEO CUREATE

  • Reese Roberts

    REESE ROBERTS

    FOUNDER, FAYETTEVILLE INDEPENDENT RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION

  • STEPHANIE KIRKPATRICK

    FOUNDER, BARTLEBY’S & SPRING KITCHEN

  • Sarah Delevan

    SARAH DELVAN

    OWNER, THE GOOD FOOD CFO

  • CODY JACOBS

    DIRECTOR OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAMMING & COMMUNITY