The Northeast Regional Food Business Center (Center) Business Builder subaward program will equip small and mid-sized farm and food businesses with funding to develop and amplify regional supply chains.
Donor Name: Northeast Regional Food Business Center
State: Selected States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Awards and Prizes
Deadline: 04/07/2025
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
Approximately $16 million in funding is available for Business Builder awards within the next three years. These awards will be released in rounds, with $10 million assigned to this round. The intended purpose of Round 1 is to fund projects that meet and meaningfully address Center objectives through one of three unique tracks. Subsequent rounds will be tailored to identified industry, geographic, or regional needs.
Competitive funding for Round 1 of Business Builder (BB) Subawards are available to individual food and farm businesses that are seeking support to grow their operations. Funding will be administered through three tracks, each with a different focus: purchase of special equipment, technical assistance or training, or developing their business through product or market expansion.
The Center’s Business Builder program aims to facilitate the following outcomes:
- Stronger and more inclusive sub-regional food systems that reflect the geographic and industry diversity of the Northeast region.
- Increased regional food system security through the production, aggregation, processing, and marketing of more products within the region.
- Increased regional food supply chain capacity to purchase and distribute more regional products.
- Increased capacity of agricultural and food businesses to increase profits through expansion or new product diversification.
Tracks
- Track 1: Equipment
- Backing the purchase of equipment for post-harvest activities, from processing to market.
- Track 2: Business Development
- Supporting business financial acumen and industry knowledge.
- Track 3: Product & Market Expansion
- Assisting businesses in expansion through new products, broader markets, and wider distribution.
Funding Information
Total funding available: $10,000,000.
- Track 1: Equipment
- $25,000 – $50,000
- Track 2: Business Development
- $15,000 – $25,000
- Track 3: Product & Market Expansion
- $50,000 – $100,000.
Grant Period
Up to 24 months.
Allowable Funding Uses
Post-harvest activities (farm gate/landing to table), including processing, storage and transportation
- Special-purchase equipment
- Business planning
- Supply chain analysis and coordination
- Product development
- Market analysis
- Minor improvements, rearrangements or alterations of existing buildings or facilities
- Rental or lease of facilities or land
- Staff time.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants and projects must meet all of the following requirements:
- Small and mid-size individual farm and food businesses, including aquaculture and wild-caught fisheries, and non-profits in urban and rural areas that operate along the regional food chain, including aggregators, distributors and retailers.
- Businesses that are new, or working towards expansion and other investment through:
- Value-added opportunities,
- Diversification of post-harvest activities, and
- Expansion of access to new markets.
- Projects focused on regional needs throughout the supply chain, as identified in applicant statement of need.
- Projects focused on food produced regionally (for human consumption), including fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, seafood, grains, and dairy that support regional food supply chains and markets.
- Projects aligned with Center goals of increasing the amount and variety of regionally grown products and food businesses, increasing the capacity of Northeast supply chains, and building regional sustainability to ensure continued growth and resiliency of farms and food businesses.
- The Northeast Regional Food Business Center serves 11 states – Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont – and the District of Columbia. NASDA member collaborators include the Northeast State Departments of Agriculture and the Maryland Department of Agriculture.
- Eligible businesses may apply for costs associated with projects including, but not limited to:
- Production Expansion and New Product Development: including value-added production or product development to increase the amount and variety of regionally grown products.
- Market Development: market research, access, and general marketing support.
- Financial Resource Development: navigation of third-party funding opportunities.
- Business Strategy and Development: financial literacy, legal and regulatory awareness, and record keeping.
For more information, visit NRFBC.
