Dairy Runway Program Overview

Dairy Runway is an entrepreneurship program for food innovators with value-added dairy products at the early stage of development. This free program offers a virtual seven-week course focused on the customer discovery process and the business model concept, followed by in-person prototyping training and Zoom-based business coaching. Supported through a grant from the USDA's Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center, this cohort-based program takes participants through a process to assess their products’ desirability, feasibility, and viability.

This program is open to any food entrepreneur, including farmers, located in the 11-state region of the Northeast who is at the early stages of developing a value-added dairy product using cow, goat, or sheep milk sourced from the region (CT, DE, ME, MD, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, and VT).

Teams of one or two people may apply. Please only include the members of your team that will be fully participating in the course. At least one team member is required to attend and participate in every course session and complete all coursework. This is important because course learning is cumulative, and participation in the Kitchen Incubator is determined based on a team's class engagement.

Virtual information sessions will occur on:

July 28, 4:00 pm ET
August 13, 9:00 am ET
September 10, 9:00 am ET

Click on the dates above to register for an information session.

Application Closes:

Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at 5 p.m. ET

Email dairyinnovation@cornell.edu with any questions.

Program Schedule October 16 - December 11, 2026:

Session 1: Friday, October 16, 10AM-12PM
Session 2: Friday, October 23 10AM-12PM
Session 3: Friday, October 30, 10AM-12 PM
Office Hour A: November 2nd, 1PM-2PM| 4PM-5PM (1:1 meetings with instructors) 
Session 4: Wednesday, November 4th, 10AM-12 PM
Session 5: Monday, November 16 , 11AM-1PM
Office Hour B: Wednesday, November 18 10AM-11AM | 4-5PM (1:1 meetings with instructors) 
Session 6: Monday, November 30, 10AM-12 PM
Session 7: Friday, December 11, 10AM-12PM
Wrap-up Session: Wednesday May 19, 1:00PM-2:00PM

Program Eligibility

Are you located in one of the 11 states of the Northeast region?

Are you sourcing or do you intend to source cow, goat, or sheep milk from the Northeast region?

Company/Team and Product Information

Company Name

Company State

Company City

Team Member 1 - First Name

Team Member 1 - Last Name

Team Member 1 - Email

Do you have an additional team member to add that will be participating in this program?

YesNo

Team Member 2 - First Name

Team Member 2 - Last Name

Team Member 2 - Email

What role do you play in the food and beverage entrepreneurship space? Enter N/A if you do not play a role in the food and beverage entrepreneurship space.

Why do you want to participate in this course? How do you plan to apply what you learn from this course to growing your business?

Have you established a legal business entity to launch your proposed product? If so, what type of business have you established?

In 1-2 paragraphs, describe your value-added dairy food or beverage product and explain what makes it innovative. In your product description, you must include ingredients and the process you are currently using to produce your product. Teams with applications that fail to identify the ingredients and process they use will not be accepted into the program. Note: Only products for human consumption are eligible for this program, and this program cannot support the development of infant formula.

Are you producing a product with a variety of flavors?

YesNo

Please indicate which flavors you plan to develop as part of this program

Does your product contain any allergens?

YesNo

Please specify which allergens it contains.

If your product is similar to another product that is currently in the market, please indicate this and describe how your product is similar and the improvements you are proposing. Enter N/A if your product is not similar to another product.

In 1-2 paragraphs, please summarize the potential business impact of your product.

Describe the consumer need that you believe will be met by the proposed product. Who needs or wants the product and is willing to pay for it? What type of research have you done to determine this?

Which stage of development best describes your work?

Idea stage - Have a vision for the product but have not produced it Experiment stage - Producing at an at-home kitchen scale, may be developing a prototype, no sales Other

Please specify if "Other" is selected.

Describe where you see your company and product line in two years

Please specify if "Other" is selected.

By selecting "Yes," you and all listed team members are agreeing to: 1. Provide the Cornell Center for Regional Economic Advancement with data about your business activities 2. Have at least one team member attend each session. 3. Use Northeast-produced cow, goat, or sheep milk in your product.

Yes

Contact Information