Please use this form to apply for the Jefferson County Agricultural Resiliency Grant Program.  The application is due by 4pm on Friday April 15, 2022. Please submit this electronically or print and mail to Jay Matteson, Jefferson County Local Development Corporation, 800 Starbuck Avenue, Watertown NY 13601. If you have questions please call Jay Matteson at 315-782-5865 or email coordinator@comefarmwithus.com or Mike Nuckols at Cornell Cooperative Extension at 315-788-8450 or email msn62@cornell.edu. Award notifications are expected to be sent to recipients by Monday June 13, 2022.

The Jefferson County Local Development Corporation will provide a written contract for your approval and signature upon awarding any funds to your project.  Once your project is completed, you will receive an IRS Form 1099 for the total amount of grant funds you were awarded. You will have a tax liability for those funds.

The purpose of this grant program is to increase local food production capacity within Jefferson County, NY.  During 2020 and the worst of the Coronavirus Pandemic, vulnerabilities within our local food system were exposed. Food shortages, weaknesses in food distribution, and the lack of local food processing facilities created situations where concern over the lack of food for people to eat, became evident.   Three particular sectors have been identified as focus areas; meat processing, on-farm dairy processing and local food production and processing.   It is the intent of this program to provide funding to stimulate increased production and processing capacity in these areas.

Funds from this program may be used for the following purposes:
1. purchase of equipment or machinery to enhance food production or processing capacity.
2. Construction, expansion or improvements to facilities or infrastructure directly expanding food production or processing capacity.
3. improvements to product labeling, such as the addition of UPC codes, allowing better retail capacity for local products.

Grant funds may not be used for:
1. Hiring staff or consultants
2. Paying for training, marketing, feasibility studies, engineering and architectural studies and reports, and fees.
3. Other costs not directly resulting in the increased production or processing capacity of local foods.
4. The production or processing of any agricultural crops or products prohibited by federal law.

Local foods are defined as food items for human consumption produced or processed and available for purchase within Jefferson County, NY.  The applicant must clearly demonstrate how the local food produced or processed is readily and directly available for purchase within the boundaries of Jefferson County, NY.

Applicants must be a farm or food processing business with a physical location within Jefferson County and have less than 60 full time equivalent employees.

Jefferson County Local Development Corporation (JCLDC) and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County (CCE) staff will perform site visits to review all eligible applications received.

Payments will be on a reimbursable basis. The grant recipient must complete the purchases for their project and submit receipts for the expenditure.  Grant administrators will then arrange for a visit to your operation to ensure the project is completed and document the success or challenges of your project. Once reviewed, the Jefferson County Local Development Corporation will issue payment directly to the grant recipient.  Grant Recipients will be sent an IRS Form 1099 after funds are paid to you.  You should consult your tax accountant on how best to handle any tax liability resulting from receipt of the grant. Any funds not used for a project will be reallocated to other projects or used in future food resiliency grant opportunities.