About $3.2 million in block grant funding may be headed to Hawaiʻi as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program.
The Hawaiʻi DOA is seeking public comments on funding priorities. Public listening sessions will be held in person and virtually on Wednesday, Aug. 2.
The program requires HDOA to conduct outreach to stakeholders to determine funding priorities.
The program aims to develop and coordinate initiatives to strengthen the state's supply chain for food crops.
HDOA plans to administer competitive solicitation to award grants to support infrastructure in the middle of the supply chain for local food and farm businesses.
Eligible project objectives include:
- Modernizing processing and manufacturing equipment
- Supporting the construction of a new facility
- Modernizing or expanding an existing facility
- Improving operations through training opportunities
- Modernizing manufacturing, tracking, storage, and information technology systems
- Improving the capacity to comply with federal, state, and local food safety requirements
- Enhancing worker safety through the adoption of new technologies or investment in equipment or facility improvements
Public comment is open until Aug. 11 and can be submitted to hdoa.rfsi@hawaii.gov.
