I’ve been a high school teacher and a signed touring and recording musician. I’m a mom of three, a Maker, a shepherd, a DIY autodidact early adopter, Open Source lover, currently run a Drupal WebOps shop and a sheep farm. Always learning!
OvisAriesFarm
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Not sure if my project ideas are “big” enough, but it relates to supporting food security in Washington State, and there are actually two related projects. I put together two project proposals for a recent government grant for which there were only $17 million in funds available, and over 700(!) applications were submitted within the 30-day application window. One of the projects was rejected for lack of special govt-required license (since rectified); the other because it was mission-adjacent but not 100% on their target. Neither project may seem very sexy from a “big idea” perspective, but I assure you they both address critical needs to farmers on the ground here in Washington State. They both involve helping to expand existing businesses to serve farm markets.
Project One: mobile animal processing. Currently there is only ONE mobile animal slaughter business serving all of Lewis, Grays Harbor and Thurston counties, and state-wide the options are critically slim and overburdened. The entire state is in desperate need of another, better mobile service, and I have the perfect business partner to handle the processing work. He’s harvested and processed my animals for me for two years, and he’s the best I’ve ever seen. He’s truly gifted. Growth potential here is outstanding.
Project Two: Mossyrock Wool Mill. Wool is a superfiber which is making a massive comeback, and as manufacturing in the US is slowly also coming back, we are seeing demand for wool processing far outstripping supply. As a sheep and wool producer, I have to wait as long as a year to get my wool produce (yarn, roving, felted products) back from the mills on the East Coast (and is super expensive), and the quality produced by the regional mills is terrible. I’ve done all the research to stand up a new mini-mill in central Washington State. Another desperately underserved market ripe for disruption, innovation and competition. I have plans for custom mill products as well. I am an SME in this field. Please lmk if you might be interested in finding out more about either or both of these projects.