Individuals, groups and companies in Saskatchewan interested in processing agricultural produce into industrial products can get financial help from a new program.
The New Ideas Counseling Services program will help pay for professional business consultants from Deloitte and Touche to assess the merits of new processing ideas and provide direction on developing them into commercial products.
“You could have just an idea in your head or have started but are getting nowhere,” said Mark Klassen of Deloitte and Touche, project manager.
The federal-Saskatchewan Agri-Food Innovation Fund will pay up to half the cost of the assessment, to a maximum of $5,000.
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The kinds of non-food processing the program is aimed at are: turning canola into diesel fuel additive; oats into cosmetics and hemp into clothing or paper.
“There are a lot of people with new ideas,” Klassen said. “This program will help them determine how to move forward or if they should move forward.”
There will be three phases.
The first is a screening process. The management consultant will help determine what information is needed to fill out the idea. For example, more work might be needed to define the product to suit a market, or more financial or market analysis might be required. This will take 10-12 hours of consultation.
The next step will take longer and go into more detail, Klassen said. The information gaps will be filled. If outside experts are needed, the program will assist in paying for their services.
The third step is to develop a plan to take the product through to market.
The program pays up to half the costs and the consultant’s hourly rate is $75, lower than what Deloitte and Touche normally charges.
For more information phone New Ideas Counseling Services at 800-652-2280.
