MorrisonGrants

For those of you in California, CDFA announced yesterday that they will be holding classes to assist companies expand sales overseas. The six training sessions will be spread over three months beginning in March 2010. The sessions will be held in Fresno, Sacramento, and San Luis Obispo and will cover topics including “international marketing; logistics and documentation; negotiation and cultural aspects; financing; and foreign regulations.” Read the full CDFA news release.

USDA has announced the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, through the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). This is a flow-through program whereby individual states apply for federal funds, which they will use for grants within their states. Most states are waiting for USDA to release the funds before announcing their state programs, though some (e.g., California) have already announced their programs.

By now you've heard about the “The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009” (ARRA) or its more popular name, the “Stimulus Package.” If you’ll recall, the Stimulus Package was an act of legislation that was passed by Congress and signed into law by the President on February 17, 2009. The stated purposes (abbreviated) of the bill are to:

The California Department of Food and Agriculture announced today that it will hold free workshops and one free webinar from January 11-14 to help interested entities apply for the 2010 Specialty Crop Block Grant Program.