Editor’s note: This article is by Robin Smith of The Caledonian Record, in which it was first published April 21, 2014.
Grants announced Thursday will help agricultural and forest producers, including the expansion of a cheese-aging cave in Albany and a beer cannery in Newport Center.
These enterprise grants are among $300,000 in matching funds handed out by the Working Lands Enterprise Board.
Agricultural producers in Orleans and Caledonia counties who won grants are:
• Bonnieview Farm of Albany, which received a $20,000 grant for a cheese-aging cave to double production;
• Cate Hill Orchard of Greensboro, which received $20,000 for an on-farm processing facility for value-added products and to begin producing farm farmstead sheep cheese;
• Kingdom Brewing of Newport Center, which received $20,000 for a retail bottle/cannery and growler fill station;
• Lazy Lady Farm of Westfield, which received $6,000 for a solar array to secure energy requirements for an off-grid dairy;
• Snug Valley Farm in East Hardwick, which received $20,000 for improving delivery of pigs and pork products.
In the forestry sector, NorthWoods Stewardship Center of East Charleston won a $18,200 grant for a forwarding trailer and the implementation of low-impact timber harvests in the Northeast Kingdom.
The grants will allow participants to leverage matching funds.
For example, the cheese aging cave grant of $20,000 will support Phase Two of Bonnieview Farm’s expansion and the building of an aging cave to double production to 30,000 pounds in 2014 and 55,000 pounds long term.
This growth broadens their product line from sheep’s to cow’s milk and blended cheeses and improves production efficiency moving from cramped conditions and offsite storage to a large, well designed farm cave.
The Working Lands grant will be added to the $130,000 match by Bonnieview Farm.
The Working Lands Enterprise Board also gave out grants to ag and forest operations elsewhere in Vermont.
Enterprise Investments are one of three areas of the Working Lands Initiative, with grants ranging from $3,000 – $20,000 for new and growing agriculture, forestry, and forest products enterprises. The Enterprise Investment area received 49 applications with a total request of $415,427 in funds.
This year, 19 grants have been awarded. There are more funds for future grants.
Other grants recipients statewide included Doolittle Farm, Shoreham, where $14,203 will be used for egg washing equipment. Jericho Settlers Farm in Jericho was awarded $18,200 for heated tunnels with biomass furnace to expand winter vegetable production.
And Fat Toad Farm in Brookfield, for example, received $15,000 for more efficient caramel equipment to expand production
The Working Lands Enterprise Board has over $1 million in grant funds this year. A second round of grants will be announced in June.
Full Enterprise Investment recipient profiles can be found at the Working Lands website at workinglands.vermont.gov/projects.
