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WENTWORTH — By April, chefs in Greensboro and Winston-Salem with a penchant for fresh, local produce might be able to go online and buy from a list of items grown by Rockingham County farmers.

The new Local Food Coalition hopes to open its virtual farmers market for business by March 21 and sell to businesses and the public in the Piedmont Triad.

A Web site will enable restaurants and other businesses to order fruit, vegetables and other products from farmers who are members of the coalition. Farmers will then deliver the food to businesses or central locations for pickup.

The group, overseen by the county’s Business & Technology Center and cooperative extension office, now has $10,000 in seed money to move forward with its goals.

On Monday, the Board of Commissioners approved the transfer of $10,000 from the Business & Technology Center’s community kitchen budget to the coalition.

The center projects it will earn about $16,000 this fiscal year renting out its two commercial kitchens in Reidsville and Madison.

“We are putting the lion’s share of it (the revenues) into this new group, which we hope will eventually bring the community kitchens under its wing,” said Mark Wells, the center’s executive director.

Coalition members will use the money to pay for startup costs, and they hope to receive grants to hire a part-time project manager. Their new market patterns itself after one started three years ago by the Foothills Connect Business & Technology Center in Rutherford County.

The initiative there has received national attention.

Amelia Dallas, chairwoman of the Rockingham Board of Commissioners, said she supports the project.

“It is a tremendous opportunity,” she said. “We just have to see how many farmers and members of the public take advantage of it.”

Contact Morgan Josey Glover at 627-4881, Ext. 119, or morgan.josey@news-record.com