AUGUSTA – The first intensive, 12-week business skills course custom-designed to increase profits and opportunities for businesses in Maine’s food industry begins next month.

The 36-hour training, called “Calculated Risk,” includes modules in marketing, finance, funding sources and other key topics to help business owners find and leverage a competitive edge and capture new opportunities.

Scheduled for Portland and Augusta, “Calculated Risk” targets food growers, value-added food producers and community grocers with a series of weekly, three-hour training sessions, from November through March, with holiday breaks.

Developed for the Maine Small Business Development Centers, the training is part of a larger effort targeting Maine’s food industry called “From the Ground Up.”

With support from a University of Maine USDA Fund for Rural America grant, the $500 “Calculated Risk” series is being offered to participating businesses for only $100.

Courses begin in Augusta on Wednesday, Nov. 2, from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Campus Center Conference Room at the University of Maine at Augusta (the Women, Work & Community Offices).

The Portland course begins Thursday, Nov. 3, from 6 to 9 p.m. at 202 Payson Smith on the University of Southern Maine’s Portland campus.

For more information or to register, people can contact Sarah Hutchins at Maine SBDC, (207) 780-4420, or visit www.mainesbdc.org to register online.