What happens if you combine information technology, systems analysis, local agricultural, marketing, entrepreneurship, add one part water, then give it a stir? You get Fresh 'n Local, a new paradigm to benefit our local agricultural economy.

Fresh 'n Local, the brainchild of Tom Pfotzer, helps farmers sell any product that is grown, raised, or produced locally. It ensures that producers receive the best prices for their better products, by creating new ways to connect local consumers and retailers directly to Loudoun's farmers.

The first problem solving step Tom took to achieve this goal was to using the Internet as an information and communication tool to connect these three groups together in the most cost effective marketing method, a database driven website.

The site is simple to use for consumers who may quickly search for any product they wish to buy, and for retailers who need new sources for local products. The site is also designed to allow farmers to create web pages for their farms and products without experience as web designers, programmers, or marketing gurus.

Check out the site at, http://www.freshnlocal.com. It takes less than a minute to register and login and there is no subscription charge. Users will learn about the farm, it's products, if they sell on location, which farmer's markets they attend and which retail stores offer their goods.

This online introductory service only scratches the surface of a more complex economic problem: how to create a more self-sustaining agricultural and supporting business community in Loudoun County.

Every year, $500,000,000 is spent in Loudoun County on groceries and dining out. An additional $300,000,000 is spent on recreation. Almost none of that money goes to our local farmers or our small businesses.

Tom Pfotzer knows this can change and to make this possible, has established Fresh 'n Local's "Business-Builder Forum," a personally selected group of smart doers, and thinker's who work well together and share the vision of a successful, self-sustaining local agriculture economy.

This brain trust includes farmers, bankers, retailers, vintners, food processors, lawyers and more. "We need to make the next step and translate this opportunity into reality," says Pfotzer. "The main obstacle that separates our community from that $800 million is we don't have a community-wide shared vision of how we're going to become the 'low cost marketer,' and provide more value to customers that anyone in the country."

Future articles on the development and progress the local agriculture brain trust will focus on their challenges and successes. If your background is in finance, capital formation, marketing, supply-chain management, or if you have entrepreneurial expertise, and you would like to join Fresh 'n Local's "Business-Builder Forum", contact Tom Pfotzer at http://www.freshnlocal.com.