Hochul announces $8.5 million for food processing grant program
ALBANY, N.Y. (WBNG) — Governor Kathy Hochul announced $8.5 million for a first-of-its-kind initiative in the state.
The grant could help local food businesses process their own food. The $8.5 million is available to those who want to expand food and fiber processing capacity.
The Food and Fiber Processing Grant Program supports the scaling of existing and new products produced and harvested in New York State.
Local businesses await opportunity
In Broome County, Little Vencie has been waiting for a grant like this.
“We have been selling in retail our sauce for about 10 years now,”said Piero Lisio, owner of Little Venice in Binghamton. “We want to become a co-packing facility. We don’t just want to bottle our own product, we’re looking to do other local products so we hope to apply for the grant.”
Victoria Giarratano at the Cornell Cooperative Extension said this could help Broome County become a processing hub.
“We’re located specifically at the convergence of the highways right between western New York and the Hudson Valley,” Giarratano said. “Our smaller producers as you can see behind me, they’re having trouble with case counts and there is not enough producers to make sure that they can get those small incubator numbers to get their products on the shelves.”
When a bottling facility is processing, they have to change over equipment, which can get pricey.
“But when people are starting a shelf-stable business, they want to be able to do those test runs,” Giarratano said. “But we can’t always justify it up front with just one order, so the grant money could go towards expanding lines to help smaller customers that are just starting out.”
Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo said she is excited for this opportunity.
“These types of investments are needed to successfully build out our farm-to-table and farm-to-fiber supply chains,” Lupardo said.
Eligible applicants may apply for awards ranging from $250,000 to $2.5 million and the deadline to apply is April 28 at 5 p.m.
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