USDA grants to help food entrepreneurs build businesses

The UDSA and Heartland Regional Food Business Center are making more than $3.7 million in Business Builder Grants available to support small, mid-sized and diverse food and farm entrepreneurs.

The grants will promote business expansion, job creation, business capacity building and local marketing, according to a news release. The funding is available for projects in Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and northwest Arkansas.

In May 2023, USDA awarded $360 million to finalists to establish 12 USDA Regional Food Business Centers and a National Intertribal Food Business Center to provide coordination, technical assistance and capacity building. The centers have 14 key partners and 20 collaborators.

The USDA Heartland Regional Food Business Center has received a total of $11.15 million for its Business Builder program, which will accept proposals semi-annually for competitive subawards of $5,000 to $50,000 each.

The 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 building businesses, from startup through growth.
• Food and farm entrepreneurs who unsure of eligibility and unfamiliar with resources.

The center is accepting applications for first-round funding through Oct. 15. More information is available online at heartlandfoodbusiness.org

“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,” USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt said in the release. “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.”

Katie Nixon, Heartland Center co-director, can be reached at [email protected] or at 417-282-2936, ext. 1310. Assistance for Spanish speakers is available by contacting Sergio Sosa at [email protected] or 402-212-3049.

“The Business Builder grant opportunity will inject much needed capital for building and strengthening local food systems in the Heartland,” Nixon said. “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.”