AMS GRANT WRITING WORKSHOPS AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE (AMSTA)

The USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) seeks to provide training and support for farmers and food system participants with the goal of improving the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program (FMLFPP) grants process. The public benefits created by this grant program are potentially significant but need to be fully documented. The Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development, located at Penn State University, proposes to work closely with the three other Regional Rural Development Centers and the national Cooperative Extension System to ensure complete geographic coverage in implementing a national training program designed to improve the FMLFPP grant application, management, and evaluation processes.The objectives of this proposal are threefold: (1) to expand awareness of the current FMLFPP grant funding opportunity (currently set at $30/million annually) and to increase the number and share of high-quality submissions; (2) to make the application process less cumbersome, especially for small and underserved farmers or farm groups, by providing training opportunities and coaching for potential applicants; and (3) to help those who succeed in securing these grant funds to better manage their awards and document the impacts of their work.To meet these objectives we will, first of all, design a training curriculum in close collaboration with AMS. Second, we will offer direct workshops to train-the-trainers under this grants program and, third, we will provide direct support to applicants as they develop their grant applications. This will occur through close collaborations with extension professionals across the national land grant system.