| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | CONTACT: Brent Poppe |
| May 27, 2005 | (406) 444-2402 TTY (406) 444-4687 |
Development Council Announces GTA Investments
~ Next Application Deadline is July 31, 2005 ~
HELENA, Mont. — The Montana Agriculture Development Council has awarded more than $484,000 of Montana Growth Through Agriculture Program funds to 15 projects for agricultural development, according to council Chair Cathy Cottom.
Projects approved at a recent council meeting in Great Falls included agricultural marketing and business development proposals. The Agriculture Development Council oversees the Growth Through Agriculture program, which is the source of funding that the council uses to make investments in appropriate projects.
"The Montana Growth Through Agriculture Program is a cornerstone program for agriculturally focused economic development in Montana," says Nancy K. Peterson, director of the Montana Department of Agriculture and a member of the Montana Agriculture Development Council. "Without access to this program many of Montana’s farmers, ranchers and agricultural entrepreneurs would have a difficult time developing new products and agri-business ideas to enhance our state's agricultural industry."
At the meeting investment funds were awarded to:
- Elliotts – developing professional marketing materials for a sales-ready line of food products, Fort Benton;
- Timeless Seeds – market feasibility of expanding an organic specialty crops facility, Conrad;
- Brookside Sheep Farm – adding value to Montana wool through further processing, Dodson;
- Colbry Farms – expanding farm enterprises to include greenhouse produce production, Chester;
- Great Northern Development Corporation – design and engineering support for pollution control equipment at a Northeastern Montana oilseed crushing facility, Culbertson;
- Amazing Grains Cooperative – enhancing consumer awareness within the Celiac community and marketing gluten-free products derived from Indian ricegrass, Ronan;
- Bostana Dairy – systems upgrade assistance for dairy manure management and composting program, Sidney;
- Montana Bio-Industries Cooperative – feasibility analysis of producing bio-diesel from alternative supplies of refined feedstocks in South Central Montana, Molt;
- Botanie Hand-made Soaps – transitioning to LEAN soap manufacturing with a Montana safflower oil base, Arlee;
- AquilaVision, Inc. – advanced weed management and control through geospatial technology, Missoula;
- Montana Farm Bureau Federation – marketing Montana beef and agricultural production practices in the Pacific Rim, Bozeman;
- Noxious Weed Seed Free Forage Program – enhanced marketing for certified noxious weed seed free forages produced in Montana, Helena;
- Chester Irrigation Project – project coordination and preliminary engineering design for a large irrigation project in North Central Montana, Chester;
- Montana CattleWomen – consumer education and promotion for utilizing lesser-valued beef items as a nutritious alternative to prepared foods, numerous locations throughout the state;
- Grow Montana Partners – researching institutional food buying potential in Montana, Butte.
Montana agricultural producers and industry representatives serve on the Agriculture Development Council.
Council members are: Cathy Cottom of Dillon, chair; Ervin Schlemmer of Joilet, vice-chair; John Franklin of Sidney; Earl Bricker of Moore; Robert Hanson of White Sulphur Springs; Nancy K. Peterson, director of the Montana Department of Agriculture; and Tony Preite, director of the Montana Department of Commerce.
The next deadline for project applications to the Montana Growth Through Agriculture program is July 31, 2005. The council plans to review the next round of project applications in early September.
For more information and application materials, contact Brent Poppe, bureau chief of the Agriculture Marketing & Business Development Bureau at the Montana Department of Agriculture, at (406) 444-2402 or by e-mail at mailto:agr@mt.gov.
