By Sonia Howlett, VT Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets
The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets offers a wide variety of grants to support farms and food businesses in meeting their goals of environmental, economic and/or social sustainability. If you’re new to applying for and receiving grants, that process might feel overwhelming but don’t worry: lots of people are here to help, and the process is pretty similar across State grant programs. To break it down, this is how the process typically goes:
- Apply
All Agency grant applications are available on our website, at agriculture.vermont.gov/grants. Deadlines occur throughout the year.
Applications for most of our grant programs should be completed online. Some grants also allow the application to be printed out and scanned or mailed to submit. Conservation District staff, Agency field inspectors, business planners, Technical Service Providers and UVM Extension specialists may be able to assist you in finding and completing an application. Make sure you read all the program information and submit all required documentation! If you have any questions, reach out to the program contact at the Agency, whose information will be listed in the grant materials. Their job is to help answer your questions, and they might even be able to put you in touch with someone who can help you fill out the application.
- Work with Agency staff to submit any missing documentation, then wait while your grant application is reviewed.
If you are missing any components, you may be contacted and asked to submit those pieces within a certain time period. If you have not recently received a grant from Agency, you will also be asked to submit a W-9 form so you can be entered into the state’s payment system.
Some programs are quite competitive. Others are first-come-first-served. Regardless, all complete grant applications are reviewed by qualified personnel to confirm that your organization and project meet eligibility criteria and, if applicable, to “rank” the impact of your application compared to the other applications received. If curious, you could ask the program contact about your “odds” of receiving the funds to decide whether or not to apply.
- Hear back and return signed grant, if awarded
AGENCY staff will contact you to let you know about the status of your application. If you were not awarded a grant, you will receive a letter or email and will be encouraged to apply again the next year, if you are eligible.
If you have been awarded a grant, you will be sent a copy of the grant to sign, as well as a Good Standing Certificate to affirm that you are in good standing with the Agency. You must sign and return both documents to be eligible for payment. Many programs also require a Certificate of Insurance proving your valid liability and workers compensation insurance, while also listing the State of Vermont, its agents and employees as additional insured under your policy. Before applying for a grant, please read Attachment C: Standard State Provisions for Contracts and Grants, which contains grantee requirements for insurance coverage and other state regulations.
- Purchase/Farm/Construct, and then Submit invoice/claim form
The next step in the process is to complete the project at hand for which you have an active grant agreement. Some programs will require that you submit an invoice or a claim form demonstrating that you have completed the practices, while other programs may require narrative reporting, photos, or oversight along the way from state staff or contractors. The reimbursement process will be detailed in your grant award and may differ between programs.
- Payment
If all the above is satisfactory, you will receive payment according to the terms of your grant agreement. Please keep in mind that the payment timeframe can vary widely from one program to the next. Some programs require all practices to be complete while others have the flexibility to provide partial payments. If you are curious where your grant is in the process, you can contact your grant manager.
- Follow-up
Some of our grants have longer term follow-up and reporting requirements that allow us to document your implementation of the funded project. If so, this should be clearly laid out in your grant agreement.
- Apply again!
Most AGENCY grant funding rounds are held annually and you can typically apply or re-apply every year.