Vermont Working Lands Business Enhancement Grants

The mission of the Vermont Working Lands Enterprise Initiative is to strengthen and grow the economies, cultures, and communities of Vermont's working landscape. The Working Lands Enterprise Board achieves this by making essential, catalytic investments in critical leverage points of the Vermont farm and forest economy, and facilitating policy development to optimize the agricultural and forest use of Vermont lands.

This grant is currently closed for applications. Check back in fall 2024 for the next round, which will be the fiscal year 2025 cycle. Below is information about the most recent round. Many aspects of the application will stay the same but the award amounts, funds available, timeline, process, eligibility, and application questions are all subject to change. 

Grant Overview

• Award amounts $15,000 - $50,000

• Project types:

  • Market development – professionalizing a marketing and/or branding approach to new or expanded markets; hiring a professional marketing/branding contractor to develop strategy and/or content; implementing the strategy and/or content developed by the contractor (e.g., branding, website, or social media development) 

  • Research and development – testing new systems or technology 

  • Infrastructure development – project-specific planning, permitting, engineering or architectural plans; building and equipment costs, including for labor and/or energy efficiency enhancements, such as lighting, refrigeration/cooling, heat pumps, solar panels, low-energy water management, ventilation systems, and/or energy generation; may include equipment installation and/or technical assistance costs 

  • Workforce training and development – technical skill training for staff, business management training, and/or business succession planning, including hiring a consultant to support any of these processes 

• Grant recipients must provide matching funds at a 100% (one-to-one) rate using cash (e.g., funds in the bank, paid staff labor hours) or a combination of cash and in-kind items (e.g., businesses time contributed to project, use of equipment, donated goods, pro bono services, volunteer labor) that the grantee organization has a from other sources. Match sources must be identified by the time of application submission and commitments in place by the time of grant agreement signing. Matching funds may not be sourced from other federal funding opportunities. Under limited circumstances, the matching requirement may be reduced or waived for applicants who demonstrate a clear need for this accommodation.

• Value-added food businesses that source at least 50% of raw ingredients from Vermont OR are applying for a Working Lands grant to significantly increase use of ingredients sourced from Vermont are eligible. • Businesses that sell “unique food products” are not eligible unless the business will use grant funds to increase production of raw ingredients in Vermont. o Unique food products are processed foods made from ingredients that are not regularly produced in Vermont or are not available in sufficient quantities to meet production requirements.

• Secondary forestry businesses are eligible if at least 50% of the wood they use is grown in the Northeast OR the Working Lands grant project will significantly increase use of wood sourced from the Northeast.

• Applicant organizations/businesses must be based in Vermont. Businesses or organizations headquartered outside of VT may be eligible if the project or service being proposed is 100% focused on Vermont’s working landscape and businesses. Please contact Clare.Salerno@vermont.gov to discuss eligibility for out-of-state applicants.

• All structures are eligible (e.g., Partnerships, Limited Liability Corporations, Sole Proprietorships, Cooperatives, Corporations, S Corporations, L3Cs, B Corporations, and/or non-profits that are involved in the support of production of agriculture and/or forest products).

• All legally incorporated enterprises must be registered with the VT Secretary of State. Sole proprietors using a business name other than their own name must have their assumed business name (formerly known as a trade name) registered with the Secretary of State. 

• Previous Working Lands Standard Business and COVID-19 Response Business Development grantees are eligible to re-apply for funding during Fiscal Year 2024. Previous Working Lands Supply Chain Impact, Market Level Infrastructure Impact, ARPA Primary Producer, or Meat Slaughter and Processing Development Grants are eligible to apply for further Working Lands funding after three years, meaning that Fiscal Year 2021 and earlier grantees are eligible to apply this year.

• Grant recipients must provide matching funds at a 100% (one-to-one) rate using cash (e.g., funds in the bank, paid staff labor hours) or a combination of cash and in-kind items (e.g., businesses time contributed to project, use of equipment, donated goods, pro bono services, volunteer labor) that the grantee organization has received from other sources. Match sources must be identified by the time of application submission and commitments in place by the time of grant agreement signing. Matching funds may not be sourced from other federal funding opportunities. Under limited circumstances, the matching requirement may be reduced or waived for applicants who demonstrate a clear need for this accommodation.

• Match waiver or reduction request: • In budget table, enter amount of match you can realistically commit to (if full waiver requested, enter $0) • Explain why match waiver is needed at this time

How to Apply

1. Review the full Request for Applications (FY 2024 linked as a sample) for the complete details on eligible projects/applicants and the full application process.

2. Register in WebGrants (may take up to two business days).

3. Visit the Working Lands application frequently asked questions for resources and to get support on your application. 

4. Complete your application in WebGrants using our Application Guide.

• Working Lands Business Grant 2024 Presentation Power Point

• Working Lands Business Development Directory