While in Western NY in late June I met with Aileen Randolph of NY Farm Viability, and she provided some tips for growers who are interested in the upcoming NYS Grown and Certified Grant Program.

Aileen encourages growers to use the time in the delay to make sure that they are ready when the request for proposals (RFP) is released. She assured me (and has stated on the website) that they will not release the RFP without 4 weeks’ notice and once the RFP is released that it will be open for a minimum of 8 weeks. To make sure that you are notified about this proposal when it comes out she strongly recommended signing up for their email distribution list. You can sign up for it here.

1. Start the process to become NYS Grown and Certified
2. When describing your project include SMART goals. Aileen encouraged me to start preparing growers for this last winter! SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. I found a worksheet from the University of Wisconsin that I think could be helpful in laying out a project idea for a grant using a SMART goals approach. You can download it here.
3. Alieen suggests that you consider how you would answer the following questions as they will give you a head start on your proposal (the hints are from me):

• Will your proposed acquisition help you achieve one of the following priorities? (Hint: these are grant priorities so your chance of getting funded is higher if you focus on purchase of equipment that achieves one of these goals)
• Production automation and labor efficiency
• Distribution capacity enhancement
• Processing and packaging
• How does the acquisition support food safety or environmental sustainability related to production of a NYS Grown & Certified product?
• Will the proposed acquisition reduce your current operating costs? (Hint: be prepared to show actual $ amounts. If you need help with this, contact me emh56@cornell.edu). If it won’t reduce your costs, can you show how the grant will help to make your business more economically sustainable?
• Will it increase your ability to bring more product to market? How?
• Are you a NYS Grown & Certified participant or in the process of enrolling?

The grant program is unique in that it emphasizes infrastructure improvements and will only require a 10% match. There are few grants that cover infrastructure.

Funding will be awarded within 4 regional groups:
• Finger Lakes and Central NY: $1 million for capital projects
• Mid-Hudson, New York City, and Long Island: $1.5 million for capital projects
• North Country, Mohawk Valley, and Capital Region: $1.5 million for capital projects
• Western NY and Southern Tier: $1 million for capital projects

Each regional group will also have an additional $200,000 available for research and development projects.

One positive to the delay is it has (hopefully) given some of you more time to think about and prepare for a competitive proposal. Stay tuned!