Local Orbit gets microloan; from harvest to table in hours

Wednesday, August 18, 2010 | Source: Concentrate

Local Orbit is shortening and strengthening local food chain.

The downtown Ann Arbor-based start-up created online software that helps consumers order fresh food directly from local producers. The experience is similar to shopping on Amazon, where the farmer drives the food to a local hub so the buyer can pick up, say, produce within hours of its harvest.

"I saw a lot of fundamental problems and challenges in the food chain," says Erika Block, founder and CEO of Local Orbit. "I saw a way to use interactive technology to solve some of those problems."

Block began cultivating the idea two years ago and really began putting it into practice in 2009. Today, the firm employs three people and creates work for another three independent contractors. She expects to hire 5-7 additional staffers within the next year.

The hiring will take place after Local Orbit finishes proving its concept at pilot sites in Ann Arbor, Richmond, and Brooklyn. The start-up also recently received a microloan from the Michigan Microloan Fund Program to help finish its pilot projects and begin expanding its concept across Michigan. It expects to add a fourth site in Michigan later this year, as part of an expansion plan to tailors its operations to the communities it serves.

"Every community has different needs when it comes to local food systems," Block says. "One size doesn't fit all."

Source: Erika Block, CEO and founder of Local Orbit
Writer: Jon Zemke