Mark Pawliw lived the food and restaurant lifestyle through his 25-plus years of experience in the industry, but he realized that something was missing. What was lacking was a connection to the producers, growers, and chefs that bring the food to your plates, the drink to your glasses, and the art of cooking that ties […]
Mark Pawliw lived the food and restaurant lifestyle through his 25-plus years of experience in the industry, but he realized that something was missing. What was lacking was a connection to the producers, growers, and chefs that bring the food to your plates, the drink to your glasses, and the art of cooking that ties it all together.
Having to take some action to remedy this, Mark formed Farm to Fork 101 in 2015. It would become a tool, a resource, and an entrepreneurial adventure. Through his business he would explore bridging the gap through “a sustainable experience that reconnects the farmer with the consumer in a delicious way.”
Pawliw started meeting with me in October 2017. He was looking for a path forward in growing the scale, diversity, and recognition of Farm to Fork 101. Together, we held many strategic-planning discussions to create an overall vision and action options. Some of these were postponed or altered due to some sizeable opportunities that came to Mark that helped grow the awareness of the local sustainable food system as well as his business. These opportunities included being hired to manage the Wegmans Experience stage during the New York State Fair in 2018 and 2019.
Throughout our time working together, I continued strategic coaching with Mark. We worked on expanding into operational analysis regarding cash flow and profit margins, differentiation marketing strategies, ideas for informational subscription services to extend product offerings, and other general problem solving.
Pawliw says, “Frank has helped me articulate my vision, weed out the bad or underdeveloped ideas and understand the importance of being proactive with my financials. All in all, he has been a great coach and I look forward to continuing with his advice as my business expands and grows.”
Now, in 2020, Mark can point to his success story as a long line of sold-out events, contracts for services, and name recognition. One of Mark’s latest undertakings was hosting the experience stage cooking demos at the Northeast Organic Farming Association New York’s Winter Conference at the Oncenter in Syracuse in January.
And, with continued coaching and planning with his advisor, Pawliw plans to take Farm to Fork 101 even further in the new decade. He plans on providing increased access to information about farmers and their produce to consumers, while continuing the educational dinners and cooking classes that have been such a hit.
Pawliw states, “Farm to Fork 101 has always been about building and maintaining relationships within the community. In the future, we plan on continuing those connections through hands-on education and helping with other organizations who share the same values. In the end, we would like to see a strong, well-connected food community here in Syracuse.”
You can run into Mark Pawliw out and about at the CNY Regional Farmer’s Market where he can be invariably found sourcing produce for a dinner event, building the relationships that are the foundation of his business.
Advisor’s Business Tip: All businesses benefit from an understanding of their cash flow. A study by Geneva Business Bank indicates “cash-flow bottlenecks account for 7 out of the top 10 reasons businesses fail.” Let an SBDC advisor provide you a no-cost confidential cash-flow analysis using software tools that they are trained to use.
Frank Cetera is an advanced certified business advisor at the SBDC located at Onondaga Community College. Contact him at ceteraf@sunyocc.edu