Deadline: 6-Mar-23
The United States Development of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking applications for its Agriculture Innovation Center Program.
The purpose of this program is to establish and operate Agriculture Innovation Centers (Centers) that provide technical and business development assistance to Agricultural Producers seeking to engage in developing and marketing of Value-Added Agricultural Products.
Funding Information
- Program Funding: $8 million.
- Maximum Grant Amount: $1,000,000 (may be less at the discretion of the Agency).
How may funds be used?
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Grant and matching funds may be used to operate an agriculture innovation center, and to provide the following services to agricultural producers:
- Business development services, including feasibility studies and business plans.
- Market development services, including marketing plans, branding, and customer identification.
- Financial advisory services, including assistance with preparing financial statements, and assessing financing options.
- Process development services, including engineering services, scale production assessments, and systems development.
- Organizational assistance, including legal and technical advisory services.
- Value chain coordination, including connecting an agricultural producer to a distribution system, processing facility, or commercial kitchen.
- Product development (excluding research and development), including concept testing, feasibility and cost analysis, product taste-testing, demographic and other types of consumer analysis, production analysis, and evaluation of packaging and labeling options.
- Grants of $5,000 or less to agricultural producers for the services, where the aggregate amount does not exceed $50,000.
Eligibility Criteria
- Local Governments
- State Governments
- Federally-Recognized Indian Tribes
- Institutions of higher education
- Nonprofit organizations
- Commercial Organizations
For more information, visit USDA.