By Russell Shaffer
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Heartland Regional Food Business Center (RFBC) announce the availability of over $3.7 million in Business Builder Grants to support small, mid-sized, and diverse food and farm entrepreneurs. These grants will promote business expansion, job creation, business capacity building, and increase local products in the local market. The funding is available for projects in Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and northwest Arkansas.
Rural Prosperity Nebraska is one of 34 Heartland Center partners working to fill gaps in resources available to local food and farm businesses that are ready to start and grow. Through the Nebraska Regional Food Systems Initiative, Rural Prosperity Nebraska Extension educators have been working with farmers, farmers markets, local grocery stores and government-funded programs such as SNAP to make local foods more accessible and affordable for all Nebraskans.
The Heartland Regional Food Business Center is one of 12 centers, along with the National Intertribal Food Business Center, that offer local and regional food system coordination, technical assistance, and capacity building. These centers assist small and mid-sized producers, and food and farm businesses in creating a more resilient, diverse and competitive food system. Led by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and rural Missouri community development corporation New Growth, It conducts this work as a regionwith 14 Key Partners and 20 Collaborators across the five states, the Heartland center focuses on expanding the local and regional food system in Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and northwest Arkansas.
Local and regional food systems are essential to the overall food supply chain and the new Regional Food Business Centers are the cornerstone of our efforts to support them. The Centers provide technical assistance to create new value chain connections, expanding supply to and demand from new and existing markets, improving viability and increasing market value of products, aiding with business and succession planning, and fostering connections at both state and national levels. Projects funded through the Heartland Center’s Business Builder program will further the Center’s vision of making the region a place where locally produced food will be a major contributor to a resilient and safe food supply through regional networks that make local food an easy, everyday choice, supporting healthy people, community economies, and sustainable ecosystems.
“The Regional Food Business Centers are a cornerstone of USDA’s food system transformation efforts, serving to help farmers, ranchers, and other food businesses access the resources and technical assistance they need to access new markets,” said USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt. “The Center’s Business Builder Grant program will empower the region’s small and mid-sized farmers and food businesses to launch and expand their operations by establishing new revenue streams and gaining investors. This program is crucial to achieving the vision the Biden-Harris Administration and USDA has of a food system that fosters opportunities for regional food businesses and rural economies.”
“The Business Builder grant opportunity will inject much needed capital for building and strengthening local food systems in the Heartland,” said Katie Nixon, Heartland Center co-director and leader of the Food Systems Program at New Growth. “We are excited and ready to provide technical assistance to applicants on their ideas and applications. We are here to support our food and farm businesses in their efforts to feed their communities.”
Ben Jewell, a Rural Prosperity Nebraska Extension educator and the team lead for the Nebraska Regional Food System Initiative, said, “We and our Nebraska partners—Center for Rural Affairs, Turtle Island Trade Coalition, No More Empty Pots, and Communidad Maya Pixan Ixim—are ready to provide technical assistance to support small businesses that want to grow their operations and need help finding the funding or other resources to take that next step in business development. With the Business Builder grants investing in Nebraska’s small-scale food and farm businesses, we have a unique opportunity to make real and lasting change to our local food system.”
The USDA Heartland Regional Food Business Center has received a total of $11.15 million for their Business Builder program. The Center’s Business Builder program will accept proposals semi-annually for competitive subawards of $5,000 to $50,000 each. The Heartland Center will prioritize:
- Small farms and small businesses in urban and rural areas that operate along the local and regional food value chain
- Food and farm entrepreneurs who are indigenous, immigrant, people of color, veterans, and otherwise disadvantaged, such as those with physical disabilities.
- Food and farm entrepreneurs who are eager and ready to build their enterprises, from startup through growth.
- Food and farm entrepreneurs who are unsure of eligibility and where to go for assistance and unfamiliar with resources.
The Heartland Center is accepting applications for its first-round funding through October 15, 2024. The Center will host an informational webinar on how to apply for Business Builder grants on Aug. 28, 2024, from 12 to 1 p.m. CT. For additional information, visit the Heartland Center’s website.
Rural Prosperity Nebraska brings together Extension professionals, faculty from across the University of Nebraska system, and students to work with community leaders to help make Nebraska’s rural communities more vibrant. Rural Prosperity Nebraska is housed within the University’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Source : unl.edu