Producer

Mission Mountain Food Enterprise Center’s mission is to enhance regional and state economic opportunities by providing client services to value added agriculture and specialty food businesses through the management and operation of a viable community-based food processing center. Located directly in the heart of Ronan, Montana and covering over a ¼ of a city block, Lake County Community Development’s Mission Mountain Food Enterprise Center is a fully functioning food processing, research, and development facility. The food processing facility is inspected by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Montana Department of Agriculture Organic Program.

The Mission Mountain Food Enterprise Center (MMFEC) is a response to a community based food system assessment- the Montana Food System Initiatives -conducted in 1998. The assessment involved a diverse group of community members and organizations that looked at their local food system and identified community based actions that could increase local food production, add value to local agriculture, and create new resources for local food consumption. In 1999, MMFEC received funding through the USDA Rural Cooperative Development Program which developed a marketing plan for the Center. This plan revealed that western Montana farmers, ranchers, and food producers require marketing, food processing, and distribution infrastructure development in order to enhance their quality of life and community economic well-being. By 2000 MMFEC’s food processing facility was built and began providing a venue for the incubation of specialty food entrepreneurs and value added agricultural producers. In 2005, MMFEC was one of 10 federally funded food and agriculture innovation centers in the country, and since 2009 MMFEC has served as western Montana’s food and agriculture center in the Montana Department of Agriculture’s Food and Agriculture Development Network.