Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) Grant Program

UPDATE: APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED

The purpose of this program is to improve food supply resilience in the middle of the food chain through increasing distribution, aggregation, storage capacity, market expansion and facility updates/expansions. Following federal guidance, the project performance period will be from June 2024 to May 25, 2027. Applicants must demonstrate how this project will improve resilience in the middle of the food chain and ensure the project will be completed by May 2027.

UPDATE: APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED

Download the RFSI Grant Program One-Pager HERE.

Download the Indiana RFSI Notice of Funding HERE.

Download the Indiana RFSI Request for Application HERE.

APPLICATION RESOURCES:

If you are having trouble opening the application templates, open the template - you may see a page that says “Please Wait". Download the page that says “Please Wait” then SAVE the downloaded document. Open Adobe Reader or Acrobat. From ADOBE, open the saved template document. Find more information on the RFSI FAQ document.

• Equipment Only Application Template
• Infrastructure Application Template
• Critical Infrastructure Letter Template
• Verification of Matching Funds Template
• Environmental Review Checklist
• ESA Section 7 Technical Assistance Guide
• RFSI FAQ

UPDATE: APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

For more information about this program, contact ISDA Agribusiness Engagement Director, Erica Heater at (317) 910-4722 or eheater@isda.in.gov or attend one of the upcoming webinars:

WHO IS ELIGIBLE:

Indiana businesses, producers, and organizations/institutions that work in the middle of the food chain sector, defined as “from the farm gate to end point retail” or the processing and aggregation/distribution sector of the food chain. Please see the Request for Application for full details on eligible applicants.

WHO IS INELIGIBLE:

Products including meat, poultry, wildcaught seafood, dietary supplements, tobacco and food for animal consumption do not qualify in this program. Businesses may have the above listed product lines, but grant funds cannot be used to benefit these products. For Profit businesses must qualify as small businesses by the SBA small business guidelines.

ANTICIPATED TIMELINE:

Applications will open January 29 and will be due to ISDA on March 15, 2024 by 12:00 pm (noon) EST.

• Notice of Award Date - Anticipated June 2024.
• Execution of grant agreements and initiation of project/spending funds anticipated November 2024
• Final Report/Documentation Required for Reimbursement - Due to ISDA on or before April 1, 2027.

These anticipated dates are subject to change and any changes will be posted to the ISDA grants page.

ELIGIBLE EXPENSES MAY INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:

• Purchase/upgrade of equipment, infrastructure and technology - including installation;
• Construction of a new facility;
• Increasing storage space - including cold storage;
• Increasing packaging and labeling capabilities; and
• Facility upgrades for climate-smart equipment.

INELIGIBLE EXPENSES MAY INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:

• Expenses that have been or will be reimbursed under any other federal, state or local funding source;
• Land acquisition or lease;
• Projects focusing on meat/poultry/wild caught seafood; and
• General repairs.

The applicant must explain how all expenses are necessary to the goal of the project.

PROGRAM TYPE AND ADDITIONAL FUNDING REQUIREMENTS:

This program is a grant. Therefore, repayment of funds is not required. Applicants will be required to have matching funds to apply for the grant. Below are the accepted matching:

• “In-kind”;
• 25% matching for businesses qualifying as historically underserved farmer or rancher, socially disadvantaged businesses, women or veteran owned; or
• 50% matching for all other businesses.

AWARDS:

Total award from United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for Indiana is $8,082,536.

• Infrastructure sub-awards will be awarded between $100,000 and $3 million, with matching funds required.
• Special Equipment sub-awards will be awarded between $10,000 and $100,000, no matching funds required.

Through this grant, the ISDA was given the opportunity to carve out up to $1 million to perform Supply Chain Coordination activities that will benefit statewide supply chain resiliency. ISDA decided to utilize approximately $420,000 for this portion of the grant. These projects are directed by the ISDA and activities include:

• Food Distribution Expert/Value Chain Coordinator- Hiring of a Food Distribution Expert/Value Chain Coordinator to assist producers with making connections to distributors and restaurants.
• Executive Coaching for Middle of the Food Chain Tech Start up companies wishing to help improve distribution issues in Indiana through technology innovation.

For information regarding the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Grant Program, please contact Emily Conwell: emconwell@isda.in.gov