The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded Appalachian Sustainable Development $536,440.18 on September 30, 2025, under the Rural Cooperative Development Grants program (CFDA 10.771) to establish and operate the Southwest Virginia Agribusiness Success Center within its Appalachian Harvest Food and Herb Hub.
The Center provides workspace for technical service providers and entrepreneurs, aggregation and distribution infrastructure access, and kickstarter awards to help businesses launch or expand. Value-added producers, herbalists, and small to medium-sized farmers and ranchers gain co-located functional workspace within the existing warehouse alongside business development services including planning, marketing, sales, and coordination support. Participants access Appalachian Sustainable Development's team of agriculture business professionals and interact with peer entrepreneurs to build operations at scale. The initiative also operates a workforce development program designed to support participating entrepreneurs by creating a trained workforce pipeline, addressing a limiting factor in rural business growth.
Performance occurs in Duffield, Virginia, with work through December 31, 2026. Appalachian Sustainable Development, a nonprofit organization based in Duffield, brings thirty years of history in the Appalachian region and existing critical components to ensure rapid and successful launch. The project creates jobs in rural areas by developing new food and agriculture businesses and expanding existing ones.