OPPORTUNITY:
USDA Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan Program. Loan guarantees will be made to lenders to facilitate financing to qualified borrowers and projects for the start-up or expansion of activities in the middle of the food supply chain, particularly the aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storage, transportation, wholesaling, or distribution of food, to increase capacity and help create a more resilient, diverse, and secure U.S. food supply chain.
DESCRIPTION:
Applicants are encouraged to consider projects that will advance the following key priorities (additional information on the key priorities is available at https:// www.rd.usda.gov/priority-points):
- Assisting rural communities to recover economically from the impacts of the COVID–19 pandemic, particularly disadvantaged communities;
- Ensuring all rural residents have equitable access to Rural Development (RD) programs and benefits from RD funded projects; and
- Reducing climate pollution and increasing resilience to the impacts of climate change through economic support to rural communities.
Funding may be used to:
- start-up or expand food supply chain activities such as aggregating, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling or distributing food.
- address supply chain bottlenecks.
- increase capacity and help create a more resilient, diverse, and secure U.S. food supply chain.
MATCHING FUNDING:
The borrower must have between 10% to 25% balance sheet equity depending on whether the borrower is considered a “new” vs. “existing” business.
ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS:
The borrower must be a cooperative organization, corporation, partnership, or other legal entity organized and operated on a profit or nonprofit basis; an Indian tribe on a Federal or State reservation or other federally recognized tribal groups; a public body; or an individual.
FUNDING AVAILABLE AND APPLICATION WINDOW:
FUNDING AVAILABILITY: $1,000,000,000 in loan guarantees. The maximum, aggregate, loan amount that a borrower may receive is $40 million. For the fiscal year 2022, the Agency reserves not less than 19 percent of the funds made available until June 7, 2022, for entities that establish and facilitate the slaughter and initial processing of meat and poultry to increase capacity and help create a more resilient, diverse, and secure U.S. food supply chain.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: Applications will continue until all funds are expended.
