The Alaska Division of Agriculture (DoAG) is currently accepting applications for grant projects under the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) Program.
Donor Name: Alaska Division of Agriculture (DoAG)
State: Alaska
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 03/15/2024
Size of the Grant: $500,000 to $1 million
Grant Duration: 3 Years
Details:
This program is intended to support food system crops and products meant for human consumption including specialty crops, dairy, grains, and aquaculture. Ineligible products for this grant program include meat and poultry products, wild caught seafood, animal feed and forage products, fiber, landscaping products, floriculture, hemp and cannabis, and dietary supplements.
Funding Priorities
The Alaska DoAG will prioritize funding projects that pertain to the following needs identified in the middle of the food supply chain in Alaska:
- Food Processing Infrastructure
- The current market trends in food purchases lean heavily toward prepackaged meals, which has experienced significant growth over the last several years. Consumers prefer the convenience and affordability of prepackaged meals. Facilities that process food into ready-to-eat meals, especially shelf stable product, will have more marketability, increases storage life for locally produced food versus stored fresh/ raw products, and makes shipping easier to rural communities. The addition of food processing facilities will enable food processors to add product types, increase volume, and increase packaging and labeling capacity for retail.
- Kitchen Infrastructure
- Shared kitchen infrastructure is a critical need for small and midsized food processors, as Alaska currently does not have any shared commercial kitchen spaces. There is an especially active demand in Anchorage for accessible processing facilities. Institutions interested in purchasing local food for use in meal programs such as schools, hospitals, childcare facilities, and senior living facilities need access to commercial kitchen space and large-scale equipment to clean, chop, cook, slice, and preserve raw, fresh food sourced locally while extending its shelf life.
- Storage
- Cold, dry, and frozen storage facilities to encourage increased production and extend availability of products is a critical need in Alaska, especially in rural communities where access to temperature- controlled storage facilities would significantly improve access to fresh foods. Once product is harvested, producers need ample storage space to store product for post-harvest handling, washing, packaging, and distribution.
The top 5 funding priorities identified through industry survey based on ranked votes were
- Expanding processing capacities, including adding product types, increasing production volumes, and supporting new wholesale/ retail product lines.
- Purchase and installation of specialized equipment, such as processing components, sorting equipment, packaging and labeling equipment, or delivery vehicles.
- Modernizing equipment or facilities through upgrades, repairs, or retooling; (e.g. adapting product lines for institutional procurement or adding parallel processing capacity).
- Increasing storage space, including cold storage.
- Construction of a new facility.
Types of Projects
Two types of projects are available under the RFSI grant program: Simplified Equipment Only projects and Infrastructure projects.
- Simplified Equipment
- Only Projects Simplified Equipment- Only Grants will range in value from a minimum award of $10,000 to a maximum award of $100,000.
- Funds will be distributed no earlier than May 31, 2024, and projects must be completed by May 1, 2025.
- Infrastructure Grant Projects
- Infrastructure Grants will range in value from a minimum award of $100,000 and a maximum award of $1,000,000.
- The Infrastructure Grant is a 3-year performance period with the beginning date starting May 1, 2024, and an end date of May 1, 2027.
Eligibility Criteria
Entities eligible for grants under the RFSI program are:
- Agricultural producers or processors, or groups of agricultural producers and processors.
- Nonprofit organizations operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, distribution of targeted agricultural products.
- Local government entities operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, distribution of targeted agricultural products.
- Tribal governments operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, distribution of targeted agricultural products.
- Institutions such as schools, universities, or hospitals bringing producers together to establish cooperative or shared infrastructure or invest in equipment that will benefit multiple producers middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, distribution of targeted agricultural product.
- For-profit entities operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, or distribution of targeted agricultural products, whose activities are primarily focused for the benefit of local and regional producers and meet the eligibility requirements of the SBA small business size standards.
- For profit entities must meet the eligibility requirements of the SBA Small Business size standards matched to industries described in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).
Individual businesses can apply for this grant however it will be considered more competitive if it:
- Benefits- underserved farmers and ranchers; new and beginning farmers or ranchers, veteran producers; processors and middle-of-the-supply-chain businesses owned by socially disadvantaged individuals as defined by SBA.
- Projects that offer family supporting job quality and treatment/ safety of workers; focus on small and medium sized enterprises that add options and choices for consumers and producers (value added products), demonstrate local support, support underserved communities, are submitted by cooperatives, farmer- and worker owned enterprises.
- States may prioritize specific markets such as: institutions, retail, food hubs, aggregators, wholesales, and distributors, and/ or market channels that respond to food access challenges in the state.
For more information, visit DoAG.
