Deadline: 10-Nov-22
The Dairy Business Innovation Alliance (DBIA) is excited to announce the Dairy Business Builder Grant Program, formerly known as the small grant program, is targeted at small-to-medium size farmers or processors.
Projects should be aimed at diversifying on-farm activity, creating value-added products, enhancing dairy by-products or export programs.
Funding Information
- Reimbursement grants of up to $100,000 each (for eligible expenses) will be awarded.
- Successful applicants must accept the award in writing as well as submit their Employer Identification Number (EIN) for verification.
- Successful applicants will be reimbursed in full based on eligible expenses listed in the award letter upon providing valid documentation of payment (e.g., canceled checks, paid invoices, etc.).
- All reimbursement submittals must occur within 12 months of the date of award.
- Recipients must complete the Dairy Business Innovation Alliance (DBIA) six-month and twelve-month surveys. Failure to submit reports on time may result in reduced funding.
Eligibility Criteria
The following criteria must be satisfied to be deemed eligible for Dairy Business Builder grants:
- Applicants must operate or endeavor to operate a dairy farm or dairy manufacturing or processing facility in Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The goal of the DBIA grant program is to promote the dairy industry within the 11-state region. To that end, businesses must have a business address and manufacturing locations in one or more of the eligible states. The final decision on a company’s eligibility is at the discretion of the DBIA leadership team.
- Applicants must have an EIN and be in good standing with the IRS at the time of the award announcement.
- Applicants must have no immediate family members working for the Center for Dairy Research (CDR) or the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association (WCMA) or serving on the grant review committee.
- Milk used in proposed grant projects to produce a beverage fluid milk product must meet Grade A requirements. All projects must meet all relevant state and federal requirements.
- Applicants who have previously received grant funding from the DBIA must demonstrate that this proposed grant project represents a different project or a different phase, sales stream, etc.
-
Applicants must have a proposal that strives to meet at least one of the stated DBIA goals, which are:
- Dairy farm diversification through dairy product development, specialization, packaging and/or marketing strategies;
- Creation of value-added dairy products (use milk to manufacture cheese, yogurt, beverages, etc.);
- Enhancement of the value of a dairy commodity or by-product through product development or alternate use (e.g,converting liquid whey permeate for animal feed into a product for human consumption);
- Creation or expansion of a program for exporting dairy products.
For more information, visit DBIA.
For more information, visit https://www.cdr.wisc.edu/dbia-business-builder-grant