• Farm, ranch, and fish/seafood businesses that are:
  
  • Small and mid-scale
  • Producing in, sourcing from, and focused on local and regional markets
• Value-added food businesses that are:
  
  • Small and mid-scale
  • Sourcing locally or regionally
  • Focusing on local or regional markets
• Food processors, aggregators, and distributors that:
  
  • Source locally or regionally
  • Serve multiple small- and mid-scale food and farm businesses
  • Focus on local or regional markets

Types of eligible projects include:

• Business planning: This can include creating business plans, doing studies to see if an idea will work, grant writing, or loan application support.
• Value chain coordination: Covering costs for employees, equipment, and vehicles needed to connect different parts of the supply chain of your business.
• Brand development: Creating a brand and marketing materials, like websites.
• Market research and outreach: Doing market studies, hiring brokers, and reaching out to potential customers.
• Trade shows: Attending trade shows and buying supplies or creating marketing materials for them, focusing on local or regional markets.
• New products and packaging: Creating new products, labels, or packaging, and testing new recipes.
• Improving product handling and sales: Enhancing the way you process, market, or distribute your products.
• Legal support: Getting legal help to make your business stronger, manage risks, and grow.
• Food safety: Training, planning, and compliance to meet food safety rules for owners and employees.
• Worker safety: Improving safety for workers during post-harvest activities, such as training staff or purchasing safety equipment.
• Farm-direct sales: Building or expanding direct sales, like farm stands, U-Pick, or CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) platforms.

If what you need to strengthen your business viability and/or expand your markets isn’t on this list, please contact the Diverse Markets Business Builder team.

Hiring outside help: You can hire businesses, independent consultants, or mentors with similar experience to help with your project.

Paying current employees: You can pay your employees to work on the project if it’s outside their usual role with the business. For example, this could be for training or using a new process. You’ll need to keep track of these costs with regular payroll records.

Buying supplies: You can buy supplies for the project. Examples include:

• Making sample batches of food to test with buyers or at trade shows
• Producing small batches of products for taste testing and improving recipes
• Buying packaging and labeling materials

Buying or renting equipment: You can buy or lease special equipment needed for the project. Examples include:

• Kitchen equipment and cold storage, like refrigerators, freezers
• Dry storage
• Special purpose delivery vehicles (for example, a refrigerated truck versus a general purpose pickup or van)
• Machines for packaging and labeling
• Software for managing sales, inventory, or equipment – Point of sale (POS) software and equipment
• Inventory management software

Food safety certification: You can cover costs for meeting food safety certification requirements including upgrades to practices and equipment

Costs to develop, revise, or implement a marketing plan: You can cover costs like developing a brand, setting up a website, or updating your packaging. 

Travel costs: You can cover travel costs that are important for the project, but they must follow federal rules for travel rates. You can find the allowed rates on the U.S. General Services Administration website using the “per diem look-up calculator.”

• Projects and costs related to on-farm production 
• Projects and costs related to meat and poultry slaughter and initial (“cut and wrap”) processing. These projects are supported through other USDA programs.
  
  • Value-added products beyond boxed meat, such as pemmican, jerkies, stews, and ready-to-eat meals are allowable.
• Purchase of land or buildings
• Construction costs, with some exceptions, for example, installation costs for allowable equipment
• Some types of equipment, including general purpose equipment that is not specific to the grant-funded project. Please reach out to ask if you still have questions.
• Grant funds cannot be used to cover pre-award costs incurred before the effective start date of the project or fully executed agreement. 

Legal entity and UEI: To receive a Business Builder grant, a business must be a legal entity and have a Unique Entity Identification number or UEI, issued by the U.S. government. Quick Guide for Getting a UEI

If you do not have a UEI number, you can apply for one on the SAM.gov website, which is managed by the General Services Administration of the United States government. There is no charge to use this site or to obtain a UEI number. 

You may submit a Business Builder grant application before receiving your UEI number. However, you must provide your UEI number within two weeks following the application deadline for your application to move forward. Failure to submit this information will result in your application being considered incomplete and ineligible for the next phase.

You will also need to provide an Employer Identification Number (EIN; or Social Security Number if your business does not have an EIN) to receive grant funds. 

No match funding or cost-share is required. 

USDA rules and guidelines: All Business Builder grants and grantees must meet federal rules and guidelines required by USDA-AMS, according to their terms and conditions. 

Sign up on our grants website in advance:   Register online to get a user name and password. This is required before you can fill out and submit an application. Don’t wait!

Insurance and licensing: Business Builder grantees must agree to follow all state and federal regulations related to licensing and insurance relevant to their products and markets. This includes any new requirements related to new products and markets developed as part of a grant-funded project. Learning these requirements and coming into compliance should be included as a step in all projects.

Reporting: Business Builder grantees will be required to report progress and outcomes as detailed in your grant agreements. Reporting requirements will depend on the size and complexity of the project. Grantees will submit reports and payment requests through the NWRM RFBC Business Builder Grant portal.  

This is a reimbursable grant. What does that mean?

A reimbursable grant is a type of funding in which you must first incur expenses and then submit documentation to the RFBC in order to be reimbursed. The key feature of this grant is that funds are not provided upfront but are paid after you have spent money according to the approved budget or project plan.

Here are some common elements of a reimbursable grant:

• Pre-approved budget: You must follow the budget approved by the RFBC.
• Documentation required: After spending, you submit proof, such as receipts or invoices, to the RFBC to be reimbursed
• Conditional funding: If the expenses do not align with your approved budget and the grant terms, you might not be reimbursed.
• Timing: the RFBC will process payments as quickly as possible, but it may take up to four weeks. To ease cash flow concerns, consider contacting a lender for a short-term loan.

Advance payments are possible, if your business meets the qualifications (more info in the “Grant set-up and management” section of the full grant guidelines.). 

Grant applications will be evaluated by an impartial panel of reviewers who will score applications based on the project’s achievability, potential impact on business viability and market expansion, and other factors relevant to the specific request for applications. 

We recommend applicants review evaluation criteria in advance so their applications can be as strong as possible.

Achievability (24 points possible)

• The project outcomes have specific time frames and budget allocations associated with them, all of which can be achieved within the project period (4 points)
• The applicant has experience with the proposed work, from past projects and/or staff/business partners for this project. (4)
• The project description, budget details, and evidence of prior work related to this project indicate a sufficient stage of planning and readiness. (8)
• The proposed budget is clear, provides sufficient detail to show how it aligns with the project’s scope of work, and the applicant has provided justification for proposed expenses. (8)

Impact on Business Viability and Market Expansion (12 points possible)

• The project will increase viability of the business, for example, by improving profitability, general business management, workforce capability, workforce safety, operational efficiency, or other ways proposed by the applicant. (4)
• The projected impact to business viability seems reasonable given the proposed project and the applicant’s current operation and/or level of planning. (4)
• The project adds additional sales channels for the applicant in line with applicant’s capacity and market expansion goals, and/or increases the applicant’s ability to perform in existing sales channels. (4)

Benefit for Other Eligible Businesses (16 points possible)

• The project will benefit underinvested businesses or communities. (4)
• The project and business are focused on local and regional sourcing and marketing. (4)
• The projected improvements to regional food supply chain capacity seem reasonable for the proposed project and the applicant’s current operation and/or level of planning. (4)
• The applicant is clear about the specific farms, ranches, fishing/seafood harvesting, and/or food businesses this project will directly benefit. (4)

Additional criteria (8 points possible)

• Applicant provides clear and specific details on how the identified equipment or infrastructure purchases will benefit the business financially. (4)
• The proposed financial benefits are achievable based on the provided information. (4)

For the Diverse Markets Business Builders Grants Program, you must also provide the following supplemental materials:

Up to 3 letters of support from any of the following sources (4 points possible):

• Technical Assistance (TA) Provider
• Business Advisor (Banker, Accountant, etc.)
• Wholesale or Retail Buyer
• Producers with potential to grow for/sell to applicant
• Collaborating businesses

Letters of support should explain the writer’s business relationship with the applicant, how long they have worked together, why the applicant is a good candidate for a Business Builder grant, and how the writer views this applicant’s prospects for business growth over the next 1-3 years.

Evidence of investment readiness (4 points possible). Applicant must submit:

A business or marketing plan

OR

Evidence that they have worked with a technical assistance (TA) provider or business consultant to address business issues and develop goals, following this outline:

Have you worked with a technical assistance provider to build your business?

• If yes, please provide the name and affiliation of the TA provider or business consultant (can be outside the NWRM RFBC network).
• Please explain how the technical assistance helped your business.

What issues or goals did you work on?

• Describe the specific challenges or objectives addressed through the TA.

What type of progress have you made to address the issues or reach the goals?

• Provide tangible outcomes or improvements achieved as a result of the TA.

Project impact (4 points):

Short description of how the project will support and enhance the operations, growth, or market access of multiple farms and/or businesses within local and/or regional grain, pulse and/or pseudo cereal value chains. (For example, by providing shared resources, collaborative opportunities, or collective benefits to a group of businesses.)

All grantees selected by the NWRM Regional Food Business Center for funding must then be approved by USDA-AMS.  At that point, we will notify grantees that they will receive a Business Builder grant and begin the grant set-up process. 

See the Application Process tab for details on applying.

For the Diverse Markets Business Builder Grants Program, you must also submit:

1. Up to 3 letters of support
2. Evidence of investment readiness
3. Project impact description