Newberry Seeking Grant for Farmers Market

NEWBERRY – The City of Newberry and the Newberry Main Street Organization (NMSO) are setting their sights on funding from USDA. During the May 11 Newberry City Commission meeting, Commissioners voted 4-1 to authorize the city manager to make application to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the Farmers Market Promotional Program (FMPP) grant. The grant application will be jointly submitted by the City and the Newberry Main Street Organization. The dissenting vote was cast by Commissioner Tim Marden.

According to Newberry’s Director of Finance & Administration Dallas Lee, USDA is accepting applications for three grant programs. The application deadline for all three programs is May 26, so the time is short to prepare the application.

Sharing the three grant opportunities with NMSO, the Farmers Market Promotion Program seemed best suited to the needs of Newberry’s citizens. The City developed parameters for a potential joint submission of the grant application, which NMSO agreed to.

Program awards for the Farmers Market Promotion Program range from $50,000 - $500,000 and are intended to support the development, coordination and expansion of direct-producer-to-consumer markets according to Lee. As NMSO has already begun a Farmers Market in the Newberry, this seemed like a good match to both parties.

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