The governor’s office announced on Tuesday the award of more than $500,000 in grants to agriculture and forestry projects in 14 Virginia localities.
The Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund Infrastructure Grants will help fund a range of projects including animal and wood products processing facilities, a shared-use cannery and commercial kitchens, farmers market, creamery expansion, produce packing facility, and the creation of a new regional livestock marketing complex.
The projects from our neck of the woods include:
Covington, The Nettleton Property: $50,000
To assist small growers in accessing wholesale, institutional, and retail markets, the city of Covington is renovating an underused building into a shared-use produce packing and processing facility.
The project will support multiple small-scale growers by providing compliant wash/pack lines, cold storage, and business support to improve food safety and expand market access.
AFID funds will be used for building renovations and the installation of a wash/pack bay, walk-in cooler, automated packaging, and value-added processing bays.
New Market, New Market Downtown Marketplace: $50,000
The Town of New Market is using grant funding to support the construction of a permanent Downtown Marketplace Pavilion that will serve as a year-round marketplace, community gathering space, and event venue.
The project includes construction of a 40′ x 80′ covered open-air pavilion and an ADA-compliant restroom facility to support market operations, vendors, visitors, and public events.
Page County, Page Valley Food and Visitor Hub: $50,000
Page County is creating the Page Valley Food & Visitor Hub, a fully licensed, shared-use commercial kitchen that is county-owned and locally operated to help expand infrastructure for food businesses and value-added agricultural production.
Grant funding will be used for required mechanical work in the kitchen area, grease interceptor hookup, three-bay sink installation, electrical upgrades for commercial appliances, and food-grade flooring.
Bedford County, EcoFriendly Foods Initiative: $38,678
The award will fund roof replacement and electrical infrastructure upgrades at EcoFriendly’s processing facility.
These improvements will allow for more efficient operations, increased meat processing capacity, and expanded cold storage capabilities.
Orange County, Furniture By Design Expansion: $25,000
Furniture by Design’s kiln project will create new wood processing facilities for local producers and small businesses to dry their own lumber and buy locally sourced and dried lumber and provide the urban-forest-to-home-goods connection the local community needs.
AFID funding will be used to install a new kiln and construct lumber storage buildings.
Albemarle County, Bellair Farms Coldlink Collaborative: $11,000
Bellair Farms will purchase a refrigerated box truck that will allow the business to increase pork production.
By improving transportation between its partner businesses, Stock Provisions and Honest Meats, the farm can better serve its multiple customer channels.
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Chris Graham
