To be eligible for a VAPG grant, the application must demonstrate that the project meets the requirements specified in paragraphs (a) through (c) of this section, as applicable.

Product eligibility. Each product that is the subject of the proposed project must meet the definition of a Value-Added Agricultural Product

Purpose eligibility. (1) The grant funds requested must not exceed any maximum amounts specified in the annual solicitation for Planning and Working Capital Grant requests, per § 4284.915.

The Matching Funds required for the project budget must be eligible and without a real or apparent Conflict of Interest, available during the project period, and source verified in the application.

The proposed project must be limited to eligible planning or working capital activities as defined at § 4284.925, as applicable, with eligible tasks directly related to the processing and/or marketing of the subject Value-Added Agricultural Product, to be demonstrated in the required work plan and budget as described at § 4284.922(b)(5).

Applications that propose ineligible expenses in excess of 10 percent of Total Project Costs will be deemed ineligible to compete for funds. Applicants who submit applications containing ineligible expenses totaling less than 10 percent of Total Project Costs must remove those expenses from the project budget or replace with eligible expenses, if selected for an award.

The project work plan and budget must demonstrate eligible sources and uses of funds and must:

Present a detailed narrative description of the eligible activities and tasks related to the processing and/or marketing of the Value-Added Agricultural Product along with a detailed breakdown of all estimated costs allocated to those activities and tasks;

Identify the key personnel that will be responsible for overseeing and/or conducting the activities or tasks and provide reasonable and specific timeframes for completion of the activities and tasks;

Identify the sources and uses of grant and Matching Funds for all activities and tasks specified in the budget; and indicate that Matching Funds will be spent at a rate equal to or in advance of grant funds; and

Present a project budget period that commences within the start date range specified in the annual solicitation, concludes not later than 36 months after the proposed start date, and is scaled to the complexity of the project.

Except as noted in paragraphs (b)(6)(i) and (ii) of this section, working capital applications must include a Feasibility Study and Business Plan completed specifically for the proposed value-added project by a Qualified Consultant. The Agency must concur in the acceptability or adequacy of the Feasibility Study and Business Plan for eligibility purposes.

An Independent Producer Applicant seeking a Working Capital Grant of $50,000 or more, who can demonstrate that they are proposing market expansion for an existing Value-Added Agricultural Product(s) that they currently own and produce from at least 50 percent of their own Agricultural Commodity and that they have produced and marketed for at least 2 years at time of application submission, may submit a Business Plan or Marketing Plan for the value-added project in lieu of a Feasibility Study. The Applicant must still adequately document increased customer base and increased revenues returning to the Applicant producers as a result of the project in their application, and meet all other eligibility requirements. Further, the waiver of the independent Feasibility Study does not change the proposal evaluation or scoring elements that pertain to issues that might be supported by an independent Feasibility Study, so Applicants are encouraged to well-document their project plans and expectations for success in their proposals.

All four Applicant types that submit a Simplified Application for Working Capital Grant funds of less than $50,000 are not required to provide an independent Feasibility Study or Business Plan for the Project/Venture, but must provide adequate documentation to demonstrate the expected increases in customer base and revenues resulting from the project that will benefit the producer Applicants supplying the majority of the Agricultural Commodity for the project. All other eligibility requirements remain the same. The waiver of the requirement to submit a Feasibility Study and Business Plan does not change the proposal evaluation or scoring elements that pertain to issues that might be supported by a Feasibility Study or Business Plan, so Applicants are encouraged to well-document their project plans and expectations for success in their proposals.

All applicants applying for Working Capital Grant funds must document the quantity of the raw Agricultural Commodity that will be used for the Value-Added Agricultural Product, expressed in an appropriate unit of measure (pounds, tons, bushels, etc.) to demonstrate the scale of the applicant's project. This quantification must include an estimated total quantity of the Agricultural Commodity needed for the project, the quantity that will be provided (produced and owned) by the Agricultural Producers of the applicant organization, and the quantity that will be purchased or donated from third-party sources.

All Applicants requesting Working Capital grant funds must either be currently marketing each Value-added Agricultural Product that is the subject of the grant application, or be ready to implement the working capital activities in accord with the budget and work plan timeline proposed.