The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) is seeking applications for the Seafood Processors Pandemic Response and Safety Block Grant program to support the seafood processing sector.
Donor Name: Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD)
State: Michigan
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 12/31/2022
Details:
Funded through the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service, this program provides relief and assistance to eligible seafood processing facilities and processing vessels in response to the ongoing impacts from COVID-19.
This program shall support activities associated with:
- Eligible Expense Category 1
- Workplace Safety Measures: Workplace safety measures, including, but not limited to, personal protective equipment, sanitizer, hand washing stations, air filters, thermometers, cleaning supplies or similar items;
- Eligible Expense Category 2
- Market Pivots: Market pivots such as transition to virtual/online sales costs (online platform development and fees, online marketing, credit card processing fees), supplies, new signage;
- Eligible Expense Category 3
- Retrofitting Facilities: Retrofitting facilities for worker and consumer safety (retrofitting harvester vessels for onboard vessel processing to maximize open-air activities, plexiglass, walk up windows, heat lamps, fan, tents, propane, weights, tables, chairs);
- Eligible Expense Category 4
- Transportation: Additional transportation costs incurred to maintain social distancing;
- Eligible Expense Category 5
- Worker Housing: Additional worker housing costs incurred to maintain social distancing or to allow for quarantining of new or exposed employees;
- Eligible Expense Category 6
- Medical: Unreimbursed costs associated with providing or enabling vaccinations, testing, or healthcare treatment of infected employees, including any paid leave.
Eligibility Criteria
Eligible applicants are MDARD-licensed seafood processing facilities and processing vessels, including at-sea processors or dealers. Qualified beneficiary definitions include:
- Processor
- The owner, operator, dealer, or agent responsible for any activity that changes the physical condition of a fisheries resource suitable for human consumption, retail sale, industrial use, or long-term storage, including cooking, canning, smoking, salting, drying, shucking, filleting, freezing, or rendering into meal or oil. Any owner, operator, dealer, or agent exclusively gutting, gilling, heading, or icing seafood without performing any of the above activities is NOT considered a processor eligible for payments under this award;
- At-Sea Processor
- A vessel or other platform that floats and can be moved from one location to another, whether in State waters or water of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), receiving fish and operating as a processor;
- Dealer
- An entity that first receives fish by way of purchase and sells directly to restaurants, markets, other dealers, processors, or consumers without substantially altering the product.
For more information, visit MDARD.