4284.1100—OMB control number.
The information collection requirements contained in this regulation have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and have been assigned OMB control number 0570-0045.
The reporting and recordkeeping requirements contained in this regulation have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and have been assigned OMB control number 0570-0039 in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
This subpart implements a demonstration program administered by the Rural Business-Cooperative Service whereby grants are made to innovation centers responsible for providing technical and business development assistance to agricultural producers seeking to engage in the marketing or the production of Value-Added products.
It is the policy of the Secretary of Agriculture to fund Centers which evidence broad support from the agricultural community in the state or region, significant coordination with end users (processing and distribution companies and regional grocers), strategic alliances with entities having technical research capabilities and a focused delivery plan for reaching out to the producer community. It is also the policy of the Secretary, using the research and technical services of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to assist the grantees in establishing Centers. This program is not intended to fund scientific research.
The Agriculture Innovation Demonstration Center program is administered by Cooperative Services within the Agency.
Board of Directors —The group of individuals that govern the Center.
Center —The Agriculture Innovation Center to be established and operated by the grantees. It may or may not be an independent legal entity, but it must be independently governed in accordance with the requirements of this subpart.
Producer Services —Services to be provided by the Centers to agricultural producers. Producer Services consist of the following types of services:
(1)
Technical assistance, consisting of engineering services, applied research, Scale Production Assessments, and similar services, to enable the agricultural producers to establish businesses to produce Value-Added agricultural commodities or products;
(2)
Assistance in marketing, market development and business planning, including advisory services with respect to leveraging capital assets; and
(3)
Organizational, outreach and development assistance to increase the viability, growth and sustainability of businesses that produce Value-Added agricultural commodities or products.
Qualified Board of Directors —A Board of Directors that includes representatives from each of the following groups:
(1)
The two general agricultural organizations with the greatest number of members in the State in which the Center is located;
(2)
The State department of agriculture, or equivalent, of the State in which the Center is located; and
(3)
Entities representing the four highest grossing commodities produced in the State in which the Center is located, as determined on the basis of annual gross cash sales.
Scale Production Assessments —Studies that analyze facilities, including processing facilities, for potential Value-added activities in order to determine the size that optimizes construction and other cost efficiencies.
Non-profit and for-profit corporations, institutions of higher learning and other entities, including a consortium where a lead entity has been designated and agrees to act as funding agent, that meet the following requirements are eligible for grant assistance:
(b)
The application includes a plan that meets the requirements of § 4284.1010(c)(5)(iv) that also outlines—
(3)
The goals of the entity for increasing and improving the ability of local agricultural producers to develop markets and processes for Value-Added agricultural commodities or products;
(c)
The entity demonstrates that adequate resources (in cash or in kind) are available, or have been committed to be made available to the entity, to increase and improve the ability of local agricultural producers to develop markets and processes for Value-Added agricultural commodities or products; and
Grant funds may be used to assist eligible recipients in establishing Centers that provide Producer Services and may only be used to support operations of the Center that directly relate to providing Producer Services. Grant funds may be used for the following purposes, subject to the limitations set forth in § 4284.10 :
(a)
Consulting services for legal, accounting and technical services to be used by the grantee in establishing and operating a Center;
(c)
The making of matching grants to agricultural producers, individually not to exceed $5,000, where the aggregate amount of all such matching grants made by the grantee does not exceed $50,000;
The maximum grant award for an agriculture innovation center shall be in an amount that does not exceed the lesser of $1,000,000 or twice the dollar amount of the resources (in cash or in kind) that the eligible entity demonstrates are available, or have been committed to be made available, to the eligible entity.
The reporting and recordkeeping requirements contained in this regulation have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget and have been assigned OMB control number 0570-0045.