01/06/2025
USDA Southwest Regional Food Business Center Makes Grants Up To $100,000 Available for Arizona Farms and Food Businesses
The first round of applications will be accepted Jan. 6-Feb. 15
PHOENIX (Jan. 6, 2025) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture and its Southwest Regional Food Business Center announce the launch of the Business Builder Award Program to build the capacity of small and mid-sized farms and food businesses. Today the Center will begin accepting applications in Arizona for grants up to $100,000.
“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. “The Southwest Center’s Business Builder Subaward program will empower the region’s small and mid-sized farmers and food businesses to launch and expand their operations by establishing new revenue streams and gaining investors. This program is crucial to achieving the vision the Biden-Harris Administration and USDA have of a food system that fosters opportunities for regional food businesses and rural economies.”
“As Local First Arizona works with local and national partners to build the innovative Southwest Regional Food Business Center, we are focusing on our heritage as a robust agricultural state,” Local First Founder and CEO Kimber Lanning said. “Local First is becoming a national model for success at supporting rural and tribal communities, revitalizing our food system through regenerative practices that respond to climate change and growing investment capital in our state to create a more prosperous Arizona.”
Accelerating resilient regional food systems
In May 2023, USDA awarded $360 million to finalists to establish 12 Regional Food Business Centers to provide essential local and regional food systems coordination, technical assistance and capacity building. These Centers assist small and mid-sized producers and food and farm businesses in creating a more resilient, diverse and competitive food system.
The Southwest Regional Food Business Center is accelerating a resilient, diverse and competitive local and regional food system by improving opportunities for food and farm businesses across a four-state region of Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah.
The Center’s work in Arizona is led by Local First, in partnership with the Arizona State Department of Agriculture and the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension.
Arizona Business Builder Request for Applications
The USDA allocated the Southwest Regional Food Business Center $4.1 million for Business Builder awards over the next three years, including $840,000 in Arizona to assist local farmers, ranchers and processors, along with one-on-one business consulting, marketing and training support.
The Arizona competitive grants, ranging from $75,000 to $100,000, will align with state-specific priorities, ranging from increasing production capacity for small- and mid-sized producers to increasing the amount of infrastructure available to connect local producers to markets. If not selected, Local First will consider applicants for additional funding opportunities.
The first round of applications in Arizona will open Jan. 6, with a due date of Feb. 15.
To apply, visit Local First’s Business Builder Awards at goodfoodfinderaz.com/business-builder-awards
Eligible applicants include (but may not be limited to) Arizona-based:
Agricultural producers, growers, value-added producers
Aggregators, distributors, processors and food hubs
Cooperatives and non-profit organizations
Retailers and farmers markets
Small-sized applicants must have gross annual sales less than $350,000.
Mid-sized applicants must have gross annual sales greater than $350,000 but less than $1 million.
Examples of eligible projects include:
Business planning, feasibility studies and market analysis
Brand development and marketing materials
Product developing, labeling and packaging
Food safety compliance, training and planning
Value-chain coordination, salaries, operating costs and equipment/vehicles
Improving processing, marketing and distribution services
Cold storage, both for individual entities and for central shared storage/warehouses
Refrigerated transportation
Aggregation centers for products (physical or online)
Equipment in processing centers for meat, poultry or canning
Awards will be prioritized for businesses that:
Are located in a distressed or at-risk community, as defined by the EIG Distressed Communities Index
Or are categorized as socially vulnerable, as defined by the USDA Social Vulnerability Index
To learn more about the Southwest Regional Food Business Center, visit swfoodbiz.org.
About Local First Arizona
Established in 2003, Local First Arizona is a non-profit organization fiercely dedicated to driving inclusive community and economic development throughout Arizona. We have created a movement that champions a thriving and diverse economy, fostering community support and an unwavering sense of local pride and purpose in every Arizonan. Our work shapes the future of Arizona by advocating that every individual and community deserves the opportunity to thrive, and that entrepreneurship is at the core of any lasting economy. In rural, Tribal, suburban and urban communities across our great state, Local First is delivering resources to ensure a future focused on economic opportunity for all. Because our state is our story, localfirstaz.com.
