The deadline for small-scale meat processing facilities to apply for Iowa?s Butchery Innovation and Revitalization program is coming up soon.
Johnathan Hladik, policy director with the Center for Rural Affairs, says the application deadline is November 15, 2021 at 11:59 p.m.
?The application has been online for about 2 or 3 weeks now,? said Hladik. ?Don?t worry though, it?s important to note that the program is not administered on a first come first serve basis. The board that is reviewing applications is going to review every application that was submitted before the 15th. They will be doing this as they come in and that review process will probably carry us through November and probably through December. You?ll be able to get a written notification to know if you were successful, and your grant award is going to come in the form of reimbursements. You?ll have three opportunities to show the expenses that you have undertaken. They are going to reimburse those expenses for you throughout that grant period.?
The Iowa Butchery Innovation and Revitalization Fund was passed by the 2021 Iowa Legislature and signed into law by Governor Kim Reynolds on June 9, 2021. The authorization includes $750,000 appropriated by the State of Iowa and administered by the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA). The fund will provide financial assistance in the form of grants to businesses for projects relating to small-scale meat processing, licensed custom lockers and mobile slaughter units.
Businesses applying for the grant program must meet all requirements outlined in House File 857 and in the administrative rules. Requirements include that a business must be incorporated or authorized to do business in Iowa, employ less than 50 individuals, be an establishment that holds a current license from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) OR an establishment that documents it is actively working with IDALS to obtain a license.
A full video interview with Hladik can be viewed below.
