Regional Food Business Centers

This program supports regional food supply chains by creating Regional Food Business Centers (RFBC) to support coordination, technical assistance, and capacity building. The ultimate goals of the RFBCs are to: Expand and strengthen regional food sy

The Regional Food Business Centers will be the backbone for local and regional supply chain development and offer coordination, technical assistance, and capacity building support to small and mid-sized food and farm businesses which will lead to more resilient, diverse, and connected supply chains. Regional Food Centers will have three main responsibilities - coordination, technical assistance, and capacity building.

Eligible entities include producer networks, food councils, state agencies, regional authorities, tribal governments, institutions of higher education, nonprofits, and economic development corporations.

Eligible entities are described in the program's request for applications. Eligible entities must be domestic entities owned, operated, and located within the geographic area of the United States, including the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Eligible entities include producer networks, food councils, state agencies, regional authorities, tribal governments, institutions of higher education, nonprofits, and economic development corporations.

A cooperative agreement is entered between the AMS and the eligible entity that submits an application and is selected. OMB Guidance for Grants Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards at 2 CFR § 200 and 2 CFR § 400 applies to this program. 2 CFR § 200, Subpart E - Cost Principles applies to this program.

Coordination - will act as regional hubs coordinating across geographic areas, with USDA, other State and Federal agencies with relevant resources, regional commissions, and the other Centers. This role will include a needs analysis, along with strategic and funding plans. Technical Assistance - will establish subawards to organizations to provide direct business technical assistance to small- and mid-sized food and farm businesses. Capacity Building - will provide financial assistance to support small projects that are unique to the region and may not be eligible for other USDA funding. These subawards may support staff time, business planning activities, software implementation, the purchase of special purpose equipment, and value chain coordination, and other expenses associated as outlined in the RFA.

Length of time of the assistance is provided in the request for applications.

AMS only accepts electronic applications which are submitted as specified in the RFA. Please refer to the RFA for further details for submitting applications, which will be available via Grants.gov.

Evaluation criteria will include: Geographic Focus, Alignment and Intent, Sustainability, Partners and Expertise, Diversity, Monitoring and Evaluation, Fiscal Plan and Financial Controls.

AMS outlines the application requirements and review process in each program's RFA. Applicants are required to use the RFA to apply for funds. After applications are received, AMS begins a process to evaluate eligibility, conduct a peer review process to evaluate the proposals, and determine funding awards. AMS also assesses the applicants' ability to account for the use of Federal funds and monitor the performance associated with these monies.