In the summer of 2015, ISFS worked with the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in First Nation (TH), whose Traditional Territories are located near Dawson City, Yukon, to develop a 5-year farm business plan for their nascent teaching and working farm. This farm is being developed by TH in collaboration with Yukon College and will provide fresh and affordable farm products, as well as agriculture education to encourage the learning of farm skills to TH citizens and community. The business plan completed by ISFS is a tool that will assess the feasibility (potentials, attributed and vulnerabilities) and financial viability of the proposed teaching and working farm. The business plan included:
- A market analysis;
- Requirements for farm operations, infrastructure, and human resources;
- Initial capital costs, annual operating costs and projections of net annual revenue;
- Net revenue sensitivity to external factors;
- Indicators to evaluate the farm's performance;
- A SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis.
Data to inform the business was collected through primary and secondary resources. Primary resources included facilitating focus groups with TH community members; interviews with producers, restaurant chefs, grocery store owners, and city officials, mining company representatives and observations at the farmers' market. Secondary resources included a literature research on previous market research analysis on the community.