• Agricultural producers or processors, or groups of agricultural producers and processors
• Nonprofit organizations operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, distribution of targeted agricultural products
• For-profit entities operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, or distribution of targeted agricultural products, whose activities are primarily focused for the benefit of local and regional producers, and that meet the eligibility requirements of the SBA small business size standards are eligible.
  • For-profit entities must meet the eligibility requirements of the SBA small business size standards matched to industries described in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). For more information on these size standards, please visit SBA’s Size Standards webpage. For a quick check on whether your business qualifies, please use the Size Standards Tool.
• Local government entities operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, distribution of targeted agricultural products
• Tribal governments operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, distribution of targeted agricultural products.
• Institutions such as schools, universities, or hospitals bringing producers together to establish cooperative or shared infrastructure or invest in equipment that will benefit multiple producers middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, distribution of targeted agricultural product.

All applicant businesses and organizations must be domestically owned, and applicants’ facilities must be physically located within the 50 States of the United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Summary:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), has entered into a cooperative agreement with Montana Department of Agriculture for the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program Cooperative Agreements (RFSI). Through this agreement Montana will develop and administer coordinated initiatives to build resilience across the middle-of-the-food-supply-chain. 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. This program is intended to provide similar support provided in other USDA funding for meat and poultry processing, but for the non-meat and poultry sectors. Montana will work in partnership with USDA to make competitive subawards to support infrastructure in the middle-of-the-supply-chain for domestic food and farm businesses and other eligible entities. Additionally, MDA will use a limited portion of funds to develop and/or strengthen the State’s supply chain coordination and targeted market development services for local and regional produced product.

Approximately $3 million in American Rescue Plan funding is available for this program. The minimum award amount is $100,000 and maximum award amount is $3,000,000. MDA expects to make multiple awards from this funding. Match requirements are detailed in this document.

• Supporting the uptake of technology to increase production and add product lines for agriculture products
• Investing in business capacity to place products in consumer markets.
• Building cold storage capacity throughout the state
• Expanding food distribution lines in underserved areas of the state

Read the RFSI Program Guidelines in order to determine whether or not your project is eligible and learn more about the details of the program to begin the application process.

RFSI Program Guidelines (.pdf format)

Contact the Food and Agriculture Development Center Network, Small Business Development Center network, and your local economic development organization to discuss your project and request assistance in applying.

Register with the Montana Secretary of State. If your company is not already registered with the Montana Secretary of State, you may need to do so before going further with the application process. Organizations other than Sole Proprietorships must be registered with the Montana Secretary of State prior to submittal of the application. Any application from an organization that is not registered with the Montana Secretary of State will not be accepted.

Register and Apply Online: applications open on December 8.

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