The Georgia Department of Agriculture is pleased
to announce the competitive solicitation process to award the 2014 Specialty
Crop Block Grant. The SCBGP funds projects that “enhance the competitiveness of
specialty crops.” Specialty crops are
defined as fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture,
Christmas trees, turfgrass, sod, nursery and greenhouse crops, including
floriculture. Click here for a listing of all eligible crops.
The United States Department of Agriculture
Agricultural Marketing Service will make grant funding available, with
Georgia’s share being approximately $1.2 million. Grant amounts will be awarded
from $10,000 to approximately $150,000 per project. Grants will be awarded for up to three
years.
The Department's intent is to fund projects that can produce the highest degree of
measurable benefits to Georgia’s specialty crop producers, in relation to each
dollar spent.
The Department is seeking applications from organizations that
seek to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops in Georgia including:
nonprofit organizations and corporations, commodity commissions, associations,
state and local government entities and colleges and universities. Applicants must reside or their business or
educational affiliation must be in Georgia.
USDA-AMS rules state: Grant funds will NOT be awarded for projects that solely benefit a
particular commercial product or provide a profit to a single organization,
institution, or individual. Single
organizations, institutions, and individuals are encouraged to participate as
project partners.
Grant applications must be received by the Department by Friday, April 18, at 4:30 p.m., via email in Word format. Please refer to the Department's grants webpage for the application, guidelines and additional information.
Once all applications are submitted to the Department, each one
will be carefully reviewed and evaluated by a Review Committee. Compliance
and/or non-compliance of previous sub-grantees fulfilling their annual and
final reporting requirements of their past grant award agreements is an important
evaluation criterion.
All
Department-approved projects will then be combined and written as one grant submission
to USDA-AMS. Upon approval from USDA,
the Department will notify applicants (sub-grantees) of their status. No awards to any sub-grantee will be made
until a final grant award is made to the Department (grantor) by USDA.
Final
approval is expected in early September 2014, but is subject to change.
For questions or additional information
contact:
Jeanne Maxwell, Esq. Director of Grants Development &
Compliance
Georgia Department of Agriculture
Specialty Crop Block Grant Program-Farm
Bill
19 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive SW Room 216
Atlanta, Georgia 30334
404-657-1584
TIMELINE: 2014
SPECIALTY CROP BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM
FEBRUARY
25 - Tuesday
*Announcement of grant opportunity;
Request for proposals and applications
APRIL
18 - Friday
*Proposal, application submission
deadline to Department
*Proposal, application must be received
by 4:30 p.m., via email in Word format
MAY
*Review Committee evaluation of proposals, applications
JUNE
*Notice to applicants of acceptance or denial
of their proposals by Review Committee
JULY
*Submit Georgia’s State Plan to USDA-AMS-SCBG
EARLY
SEPTEMBER
*Send out award letters to sub-grantees
*Send out grant contract agreements to
sub-grantees
*Announce grant awards through press
release
END
OF SEPTEMBER
*3-year grant period will begin
