The North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers Land Loss Prevention Project (LLPP)
proposes a cooperative agreement focusing on: business management; decision support
strategies; business structures; and disseminating educational materials. Through its
SmartGrowth Business Center, LLPP provides legal consultation and representation to
underserved producers in North Carolina on agricultural enterprise issues such as:
entrepreneurship, ownership, business entity formation, and cooperative business development.
The LLPP will partner and collaborate within its unique ecosystem of agricultural, business, and
legal experts - curated during its 38 years of farm and land loss prevention experience - to
increase the accessibility of business and risk management information and support and build
new mentoring relationships for underserved producers.

Under this agreement, SmartGrowth Business Center for Farmers, an internal resource of the
LLPP, will expand its services to build the capacity of underserved producers by engaging them
in the creation of new processes and support systems that are needed for them to navigate future
challenges within the distressed economy. The overarching objective is to strengthen the
viability of agricultural economies, from surviving to thriving, especially in rural areas. The
strategy is to create and/or re-position existing structures to support cooperatives, hubs, and
alternative entry points into local and regional marketing opportunities by harnessing the
growing power of eating local in NC. We will begin by identifying underserved producers to
engage in the local food economy with the assistance of North Carolina Department of
Agriculture, USDA program offices in the state and where possible at the national program level.
The LLPP is amplifying its work to ensure agricultural groups are connected to information and
can access emergent funding opportunities geared to conservation practices, food security, and
farm business innovation to address the long-term impacts of COVID-19.