Selected companies located in Charlevoix, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Traverse City, Hart and Vassar
Lansing, Michigan – Today, 31 companies and cooperatives were selected for the Dairy Business Innovation Alliance (DBIA), a partnership between the Wisconsin Cheesemakers Association (WCMA) and the Center for Daily Research (CDR) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. $2.4 million in grants to six Michigan companies.
Selected businesses include Charlevoix Cheese Company, Grand Rapids’ Furniture City Creamery, Traverse City’s Saltless Sea Creamery, Hart’s Semifreddo LLC, Vassar’s Thistle Dew Creamery and VernDale Products Inc. of Detroit.
“At MDARD, we are dedicated to supporting a strong dairy industry. Our new partnership with DBIA has allowed six Michigan companies to receive funding to drive innovation and expand,” said MDARD. said. Cathy Angerer Acting Director“Michigan’s dairy industry has a significant economic impact on the state as a whole while providing locally produced and processed nutritious food. It will boost economic development in agriculture and make Michigan stronger.”
In September 2022, MDARD will join the federal DBIA program. DBIA aims to assist small to medium-sized dairy businesses in diversifying on-farm activities, creating value-added products, enhancing dairy by-products, and creating or enhancing dairy export programs. is.
Since its creation in the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill, DBIA has provided technical assistance and more than $3.7 million in grants to dairy businesses in five Midwestern states. Additional funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture expanded the program’s geographic reach to include Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, and Ohio.
Future funding is expected to be available in early 2023. MDARD continues to encourage the dairy industry to apply for these new grant opportunities.
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