ARLINGTON, Va. — The Northeast Regional Food Business Center is pleased to award $2 million in sub-award funding to 17 technical assistance provider organizations across the Northeast.
Thirteen awardees will receive grants of up to $100,000 to support small- and mid-sized food and agricultural businesses with projects that include:
- Business technical assistance
- Value and supply chain coordination
- Market development
- Financial guidance services
- Production expansion and new product development
The Center has also awarded up to $200,000 to four organizations focused on building regional or sub-regional technical assistance provider networks. These networks will offer professional development and training, along with fostering collaboration among providers by industry, market or geographic area.
Additionally, we are thrilled to formally launch the Center’s Community Hub, led by Cornell University’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement. This innovative virtual resource is designed to connect farmers, food producers and food system technical assistance providers across the Northeast with the right support, skills and information. Through the hub, users can access a directory of providers who offer tailored business, technical and financial support, as well as free and accessible business training, starting with the “Finance 101: Farm and Food Business Financial Essentials” course.
“We are excited to support these providers as they continue the work of strengthening our local and regional food systems,” NASDA Foundation Senior Director Chris Jones said. “The widespread coverage area of these organizations will offer producers and food businesses increased access to the types of services that are essential to their business operations and expansion.”
Established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in spring 2023, the Center serves 11 Northeast states and the District of Columbia, and operates through a collaborative framework that includes core partner organizations: NASDA Foundation, Buffalo Go Green, Cornell University’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement, New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets and the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.
The following recipients and projects received funding in the first round:
American Farmland Trust, Washington D.C.
Black Farmer Fund, New York, NY
Catskills Agrarian Alliance, Hamden, NY
Center for an Agricultural Economy, Hardwick, VT
Co-Op Hudson Valley, Poughkeepsie, NY
Cooperative Development Institute, Northampton, MA
Cultivating Community, Portland, ME
Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship, Medford, WI
Farm to Institution New England, Boston, MA
Finger Lakes Incubator and Commercial Kitchen, Inc., Auburn, NY
Future Harvest, Cockeysville, MD
Glynwood Center, Inc., Cold Spring, NY
Keystone Development Center, Harrisburg, PA
Land for Good, Keene, NH
Nuestras Raices, Holyoke, MA
Seacoast Eat Local, Lee, NH
Stepwell Strategies, LLC, Cleveland Heights, OH
The NASDA Foundation is the only educational and research organization that directly serves the nation’s state departments of agriculture. The NASDA Foundation’s mission is to enhance American food and agricultural communities through education, outreach and research. The NASDA Foundation works with states to nourish people and communities while serving as the stewards of the environment and public trust. To learn more about the NASDA Foundation, please visit nasda.org/nasda-foundation/.
–Northeast Regional Food Business Center
NASDA Foundation
