Appalachian Harvest Network

What it does: Turns tobacco fields into organic food farms
Web site: asdevelop.org
Based: Abingdon, Va.
Founded: 2000
Employees: 35
Revenue: $515,000 (2008)

The nonprofit Appalachian Harvest Network helps former tobacco farmers switch to growing organic produce in the Appalachian regions of southwest Virginia and northeast Tennessee. Roughly 70 small farmers ship more than 30 core products, including free-range eggs, to grocery stores and colleges in the region. The network, a nonprofit subsidiary of Appalachian Sustainable Development, provides farmers with training and connects them with buyers in the market. Appalachian Harvest Network hopes to break even in 2009 with revenue of $700,000 and eventually to spin off as a for-profit subsidiary.

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