Over $3.7 Million Available to Farm and Food Businesses in First Round of Business Builder Grants

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Heartland Regional Food Business Center have announced the availability of over $3.7 million in Business Builder Grants to support small, mid-sized, and diverse food and farm entrepreneurs. These grants will promote business expansion, job creation, business capacity building, and increase local products in the local market. The funding is available for projects in Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and northwest Arkansas.

KC Healthy Kids is one of 34 Heartland Center partners working to fill gaps in resources available to local food and farm businesses that are ready to start and grow. We believe kids and their communities need a strong local food system that provides convenient access to healthy food. We support the Heartland Center by identifying existing resources and gaps, providing technical assistance to producers, promoting local food and farm businesses, and engaging food policy councils.

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

Projects funded through the Heartland Center’s Business Builder program will further the Center's vision of making the region a place where locally produced food will be a major contributor to a resilient and safe food supply through regional networks that make local food an easy, everyday choice, supporting healthy people, community economies, and sustainable ecosystems.

“The Business Builder grant opportunity will inject much needed capital for building and strengthening local food systems in the Heartland,” said Katie Nixon, Heartland Center Co-Director and leader of the Food Systems Program at New Growth. “We are here to support our food and farm businesses in their efforts to feed their communities.”

Andrea Clark, Director of Food System Planning at KC Healthy Kids, added, “In conversations all across the Kansas City region, local producers have voiced the need for equitable access to capital to sustain and grow their gardens, farms, and ranches. They also want support developing business plans and writing grant applications. What’s innovative about the Business Builder program is the technical assistance provided from start to finish.”

The USDA Heartland Regional Food Business Center has received a total of $11.15 million for their Business Builder program. The Center’s Business Builder program will accept proposals semi-annually for competitive subawards of $5,000 to $50,000 each. The Heartland 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 who are eager and ready to build their enterprises, from startup through growth. 
• Food and farm entrepreneurs who are unsure of eligibility and where to go for assistance and unfamiliar with resources.

The Heartland Center is accepting applications for its first-round funding through October 15, 2024. The Center will host an informational webinar on how to apply for Business Builder grants on Aug. 28, 2024, from 12 to 1 p.m. CT. For additional information, visit the Heartland Center’s website.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.