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<b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">DEM ANNOUNCES THAT $380,000 IN GRANTS IS AVAILABLE FOR </span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;text-autospace:none">
<b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">RHODE ISLAND FOOD AND FARMING BUSINESSES</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;color:black"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">PROVIDENCE – The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) announced today $380,000 is available to help grow Rhode Island farm
and food businesses and increase the competitiveness of local products in the marketplace. The funding is part of the Local Agriculture and Seafood Act (LASA) and Farm Viability grant programs – which combined have invested over $3 million to accelerate growth
of Rhode Island’s green economy and support small businesses. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN" style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">"Investing in these popular grant programs boosts our state’s vibrant food economy and the competitiveness of Rhode Island-grown agricultural products
and local seafood,” said DEM Director Janet Coit. “</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">Farming and fishing are an important part of our heritage and increasingly vital to our economy, and these grants will help farmers, fishers and
food businesses start or expand their operations in Rhode Island. I’m excited to announce this latest grant round and look forward to the initiatives and businesses it helps inspire.” </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="text-autospace:none"><b><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">LASA Grant Program</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="text-autospace:none"><b><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black"> </span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">Up to $20,000 awards are available through the LASA grant program to help spur growth of local agriculture, aquaculture, and seafood industries.
Eligible entities include new and small farmers, fishers, food producers, and non-profits. Both program and capital projects are eligible for funding.</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">Priority is given to initiatives that (1) support
the entry, growth and sustainability of small or beginning Rhode Island farmers, aquaculture producers and fishers; (2) foster new collaborations or share new information among Rhode Island’s food partners; (3) support new products or new sales channels for
clearly defined markets; (4) enhance access to, and availability of agricultural land for producers, including farm transition planning and implementation; or (5) address gap areas or implementation needs identified in Rhode Island’s Food Strategy,<i>Relish
Rhody</i> (</span><a href="http://www.relishrhody.com"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">www.relishrhody.com</span></a><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">). </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">Now in its fifth year, the LASA program is a public-private partnership administered jointly with<span style="color:black">the Rhode Island Food Policy Council – with generous funding
support from the van Beuren Charitable Foundation, the Henry P. Kendall Foundation, and the Rhode Island Foundation. A total of $230,000 is available for the 2018 grant round. To date, over $900,000 has been awarded through LASA across 70 projects statewide. </span>For
more information on the LASA program or to apply, visit </span><a href="http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/agriculture/grants-lasa.php"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">DEM’s website</span></a><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">.<span style="color:black">
Online applications are highly preferred and</span> must be submitted directly to the Rhode Island Food Policy Council by 11:59 p.m. on March 1. The application is available at</span><a href="https://rifoodcouncil.wufoo.com/forms/k1j6n2w30gtkztf/"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">https://rifoodcouncil.wufoo.com/forms/k1j6n2w30gtkztf/</span></a><span class="xmsohyperlink"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">.
Additional information, including instructions for completing the application, is available on the</span></span><a href="http://rifoodcouncil.org/"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">Rhode Island Food Policy Council website</span></a><span class="xmsohyperlink"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">. </span></span><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">Hand-delivered
and mailed applications must be received by DEM’s Division of Agriculture by 4:00 p.m. on March 1. Awards will be announced</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">as part of Rhode Island’s Ag Day celebration in the spring<span style="color:black">.
<span class="xmsohyperlink">Additional information is also available on the RI Food Policy website.
</span></span></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="text-autospace:none"><b><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">Farm Viability Grant Program</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">Grants ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 are available through the Farm Viability Grant Program, made possible by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Specialty Crop Block Grant Program. These grants support local specialty crop production as well as efforts to grow the marketplace for these crops in Rhode Island. USDA defines specialty crops as fruits and vegetables, dried fruit, tree nuts, and nursery
crops, including floriculture and turf grass. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">Eligible entities include</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"> farmers or community groups engaged in research, marketing,
food safety/security, plant health, buy-local initiatives, and/or development of cooperatives. Projects will be funded for up to two years. Funded projects must support the broad competitiveness of locally-grown specialty crops in Rhode Island. Initiatives
that benefit a sole commercial product or provide a profit to a single individual or group will not be considered. A total of $150,000 is available for this grant round. To date, over $2 million has been invested through this program to support growth of
specialty crops in Rhode Island. For more information on the Farm Viability program, visit</span><a href="http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/agriculture/grants-specialty-crop.php"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">DEM’s website</span></a><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">.
Applications accompanied by a W9 form should be mailed to DEM Division of Agriculture, Room 370, 235 Promenade Street, Providence, RI 02908 and postmarked no later than March 31, 2018.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">In addition to these grant programs, DEM works across many fronts to accelerate growth of the local food economy, which supports 60,000 jobs in
Rhode Island. The department continues to make investments in critical infrastructure as well as provide farm incubation space to new farmers through its Urban Edge and Snake Den farm properties. Rhode Island is one of few states where the number of farms
is on the rise – now standing at 1,243 farms. </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">The state is also a leader in the nation in the percent of its farms selling directly to the public. Green industries in Rhode Island account
for more than 15,000 jobs and contribute $2.5 billion to the economy.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN" style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">Local seafood is poised to spur the next wave of food-based economic growth.</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">In
partnership with the Seafood Marketing Collaborative, DEM developed the RI Seafood brand to uniquely identify Rhode Island seafood in the marketplace and help local fishermen and distributors grow their businesses. In 2016, more than 106 million pounds of
seafood arrived at Rhode Island ports, with an export value over $1 billion. For more information on Rhode Island seafood, visit</span><a href="http://www.seafoodri.com"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">www.seafoodri.com</span></a><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black">. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal"><span lang="EN"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">For more information on DEM programs and initiatives, visit</span><a href="http://www.dem.ri.gov"><span lang="EN" style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">www.dem.ri.gov</span></a><span lang="EN" style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">.
Follow</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"> us on Facebook at
</span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/RhodeIslandDEM" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">www.facebook.com/RhodeIslandDEM</span></a><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"> or on Twitter (@RhodeIslandDEM) for
timely updates.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="xmsonormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:black"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
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