The USDA has conducted a competitive application process and selected 12 finalists to serve as leads of Regional Food Business Centers.
USDA provided feedback to the finalists, and they are revising their applications and plans accordingly, the agency said. The cooperative agreements will be finalized on a rolling basis throughout the summer, according to a news release.
The selected 12 finalists are:
- Appalachia USDA Regional Food Business Center — Rural Action Inc.
- Delta USDA Regional Food Business Center — Mississippi Delta Council for Farmworker Opportunities.
- Rio Grande Colonias USDA Regional Food Business Center — Texas A&M AgriLife.
- Great Lakes Midwest USDA Regional Food Business Center — Michigan State University.
- Heartland USDA Regional Food Business Center — University of Nebraska.
- Island and Remote Areas USDA Regional Food Business Center — Hawaii Good Food Alliance.
- North Central USDA Regional Food Business Center — Region Five Development Commission.
- Northeast USDA Regional Food Business Center — National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) Foundation.
- Northwest and Rocky Mountain USDA Regional Food Business Center — Colorado State University.
- Southeast USDA Regional Food Business Center — Georgia Minority Outreach Network.
- Southwest USDA Regional Food Business Center — University of California.
- National Intertribal Food Business Center — Intertribal Agriculture Council.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to transforming our food system to one that offers new market opportunities to small and mid-sized farming operations through a strengthened local and regional food system,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in the release. “The Regional Food Business Centers, along with investments through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program will create new and expanded local market opportunities which will improve farm income, create good paying jobs and build greater resilience in our overall food system.”
The move won praise outside the agency.
“Today’s announcement comes at a critical time — not only for farmers and the local food systems they underpin — but as Congress works to increase the resilience of our food supply in the next Farm Bill,” Tim Fink, policy director for American Farmland Trust, said in the release. “The establishment of Regional Food Business Centers throughout the country will help ensure farmers and food businesses receive the business technical assistance and infrastructure investments they need to stay viable and feed their communities in a challenging environment. We applaud Secretary Vilsack and Under Secretary Moffitt for this work, and we’re excited to help build on it.”
More information is available on the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service Regional Food Business Centers Program webpage.
