South Corvallis Food Hub Grant Recipients Announced

August 28, 2024 - The Corvallis Benton County Economic Development Office has announced the recipients of the first round of funding for the South Corvallis Food Hub grant program. Financing in the amount of $495,000 was available from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to kickstart access to food in South Corvallis.

Ten applications were received totaling more than $1.7 million in funding requests. A diverse evaluation committee reviewed the applications against the goals of the South Corvallis Food Hub project, which sought to improve food access in South Corvallis, incubate food businesses, and create new connections within the local food system. The Corvallis Benton EDO partnered with the Linn-Benton Small Business Development Center to help applicants develop proposals free of charge and facilitate meetings with Spanish-speaking community members. The Benton County Health Department provided time, equipment and guidance to potential applicants.

Grant awards and descriptions of each project are included below:

1. Benton County Food Forum - $5,000 to fund delivery of produce and meals from the Southtown Stand and Farmers’ Market using a combination of e-bikes, cargo bikes, and conventional bikes.
2. Flicker & Fir, LLC - $37,000 for improvements at the Southtown Stand & Farmers’ Market for sun and rain mitigation, food vendor support and storage, bike racks, and a pilot program aimed at expanding vendor sales through pre-orders.
3. Ten Rivers Food Web - $153,000 to fund operations of a South Corvallis aggregation facility to receive, store, and distribute local food products to institutional purchasers and business owners through local delivery.
4. Growing Ancestral Roots - $50,000 to provide services including: access to shared kitchen space, storage, training and workshops, marketing support, pop-up market access, events, training, low barrier micro-grants, and business incubation support.
5. Las Doñas del Sur - $250,000 to fund the purchase and operations of food trucks for 9 co-located entrepreneurs at a destination in South Corvallis.

The funding will be distributed to the recipients before December 31, 2024. Per the grant agreements, applicants will develop and launch their projects in 2025 with assistance from the Economic Development Office and other local resources.

For more information on the South Corvallis Food Hub project, visit https://yescorvallis.org/grow.