Shelly Grosenick is a dairy farmer and small business owner near Watertown WI. Years ago she began canning and preserving foods from her garden. That hobby turned into a way of life and eventually into a business. Shelly’s business, Crimson Kitchen and Garden, recently received a grant from the Dairy Business Innovation Alliance to help her grow her raw milk based soap and lotion lines. Shelly explains how her small business went about finding and applying for a grant that she wasn’t sure her business was big enough for.
Searching for grants online can be an overwhelming process. Applying for grants can feel really intimidating for a small business owner. Shelly shares how she found out about the DBIA grant and how she took on the process of writing a grant application in a very short time frame.
The Dairy Business Innovation Alliance (DBIA) is a partnership between the Center for Dairy Research (CDR) and the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association (WCMA) that develops and administers programs providing technical assistance as well as grants to dairy farms and businesses in Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
Their Dairy Business Builder Grant Program supports program participants like Shelly and others in achieving the following goals: 1) dairy farm diversification through dairy product development, specialization, packaging and/or marketing strategies; 2) creation of value-added dairy products; 3) enhance the value of a dairy commodity or by-product through product development or alternate use; and/or 4) creation or expansion of a program for exporting dairy products.
Big dreams often need help getting off the ground, taking the chance on applying for a grant could be the next step for many farmers looking to turn a dream into reality.
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