IdeasThatWork Incubator

With the IdeasThatWork incubator project, the Northeast Center and George Mason University are working together to move ideas from the drawing board to widespread use, that reduce health and safety hazards in agriculture, forestry, and/or fishing (AgFF). We welcome ideas from farmers, loggers, commercial fishermen, researchers, and AgFF industry professionals.

We’re providing two rounds of up to two years of funding ($10,000 per year = $20,000 total) and mentorship/training in development, networking, marketing, distribution, and more to help bring clever technology, programs, or practices that improve safety and/or health for farmers, loggers, or commercial fishermen to the workplace. In each round, we’re selecting one project.

We’ve assembled an amazing advisory board of experts (see below) to provide the mentorship and training, and we’ll also connect you to additional resources and funding opportunities.

A couple things to keep in mind:

• We do not fund training programs in general; however, we will consider funding innovative delivery tools for training programs.
• Funding is contingent on continued federal funding of the incubator.

Farrell Davis, deckhand on the sea scallop fishing vessel Small Stuff and research technologist with the Coonamessett Farm Foundation, is our first awardee. Farrell is interested in developing an ergonomic sea scallop shucking knife. He is working closely with the IdeasThatWork incubator team and advisory board to receive training, financial support, and mentorship to move his idea to practice.

We are pleased to request proposals for our second round of funding!

You must be a United States citizen residing in the United States to apply. There are no other eligibility requirements.

Send a written or video application using the form below. In the application, you will explain your idea by answering the following questions:

1. 1. Tell us your name and how to contact you.
   2. Tell us about yourself. (200 words max)
   3. What AgFF safety or health problem are you addressing? (100 words max)
   4. What is your idea to address this problem? (500 words max)
   5. Why do you think it will work? (200 words max)
   6. Have you talked with people who might use your solution? If yes, who did you talk to and what did you learn? (200 words max)
   7. What help do you think you need from us? (200 words max)

We’re holding a virtual 30-minute informational session on Tuesday, August 12, at 2 pm US Eastern time. Email us to get an invite to the session. If you’re not able to attend the session, we’ll post a link to the recording.

• Submission deadline: September 30, 2025
• Review of applications: October 1 – November 7, 2025
• Notification of award: November 10, 2025
• Project start date: December 1, 2025
• Project end date: August 31, 2027