MARBIDCO Grant Programs

Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) Matching Grant Program

 Photo: Maryland Department of Agriculture 

Overview 

The Maryland Department of Agriculture has received $3.8 million from USDA to offer grants through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure program.

Grant funds will support expanded capacity for the aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, and distribution of locally and regionally produced food products, including specialty crops, dairy, grains for human consumption, aquaculture, and other food products, excluding meat and poultry.  MDA will offer two grants:

• Equipment-Only Grants range from $10,000 up to $100,000; This fixed price grant can only fund equipment and should fit the scope and goals of the RFSI program. No match is required for Equipment-Only Grants. 
• Infrastructure Grants range from $100,000 up to $3 million. This grant can fund capital investments such as construction, equipment (e.g. delivery vehicles, frozen or refrigerated storage, value-added food processing equipment, or other equipment for middle-of-the food supply chain activities) and building renovations. Infrastructure Grants can also fund facility design or engineering, staff time, modernizing systems (e.g. tracking, storage, information technology, etc.), plan development (e.g. Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point plan), and market development. A match is required for Infrastructure Grants and starts at 50% of the total project cost. However, if the main applicant qualifies as underserved, the match requirement will be reduced to 25% of the total project cost. 

MARBIDCO is partnering with MDA to offer a grant that can be used as part of the non-federal match requirement for infrastructure grants.

• For historically underserved farmers, ranchers or other businesses that qualify under SBA categories of small, disadvantaged business, women-owned small business, or veteran-owned small business – a grant of up to 100% match, up to a maximum of $50,000.
• For all other eligible applicants – a grants of up to 50% match, up to a maximum of $50,000, with this exception: If a unit of local government, rural regional council, or county school system is the applicant, the maximum award could be up to $400,000.

Eligible applicants for MARBIDCO’s matching grant include:

• An agricultural marketing group (an LLC), or legally organized farm cooperative including at least 4 Certified Local Farm and Certified Chesapeake Invasive Species Providers.
• A wholesale distributor that is selling to at least one institution and aggregating from at least 4 Certified Local Farm and Certified Chesapeake Invasive Species Providers.
• Public entity (such as a county government, municipality, community college, university, county school system or rural regional council), either purchasing from or facilitating the aggregation from at least 4 Certified Local Farm and Certified Chesapeake Invasive Species Providers.
• Eligible Projects must meet all MDA RFSI application requirements.

Projects that receive tentative approval from MARBIDCO will receive a match verification letter to be submitted with the MDA application.  Only those applicants that are approved by USDA for the infrastructure grant and who demonstrate to MARBIDCO that they will be selling products to wholesale or institutional buyers will receive funding. (The deadline for receipt of purchase commitment letters is no later than April 30, 2024.)

Institutional and Wholesale Buyers

An institutional buyer could include a state or local government agency (including a correctional institution), school system, hospital, or chain of grocery stores.  A wholesale buyer is a food distributor that has an established track record of selling food products to the institutions generally described above. The Maryland Department of Agriculture provides a list (page 42) of some institutional buyers in its publication, Maryland’s Best Expo Directory.  Information can be found at https://marylandsbest.maryland.gov/wp-content/uploads/MBestExpoDirectory_web3-20.pdf. 

Some examples include:

• Public schools
• University system
• State agencies
• Hospitals
• Prisons
• Wholesale distributors that sell to an institutional buyer

Application Submission

MARBIDCO’s RFSI matching grant application is due Thursday, February 29, 2024.  Send completed applications and all attachments to MARBIDCO RFSI Matching Grant Program, Sierra Criste, 1410 Forest Drive, Suite 21, Annapolis, MD 21403 or scriste@marbidco.org.

For more information on MARBIDCO’s matching grant, contact Sierra Criste, at scriste@marbidco.org or 410-267-6807. 

For more information about MDA’s RFSI Program and the application process, please contact Karen Fedor at rfsi.mda@maryland.gov or 410-841-5773.  MDA’s RFSI application is due by 11:59 pm EST on Friday, March 15.