The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Southwest Regional Food Business Center announced that three Arizona projects were selected for funding for the first round of the Business Builder Award Program, created to build the capacity of small and mid-sized farms and food businesses.
Between 2025-2027, the SWRFBC has committed to distributing $4.1 million in awards across the region, supporting supply chain resiliency by building the capacity of small and mid-sized food producers and businesses. The three projects that were chosen align with the state priority areas ranging from increasing production capacity for small and mid-sized producers to amplifying the infrastructure available to connect local producers to markets.
- The Nalwoodi Denzhone Community, located on the San Carlos Apache Reservation, will use the funds to automate their egg processing equipment for the San Carlos Apache Eggcellent Processing Modernization Project. The community has more than 200 hens which are pasture-raised and moved daily with a mobile coop. The award funding will help increase efficiency and overall production rates.
- Oatman Farms, located by the Gila River, will use the funding to enhance their local organic grain production by upgrading to a 48” stone mill, increasing flour production 10 times using organic heirloom grain grown on its farm. This upgrade will allow the farm to meet the demands of existing contracts with several school districts and expand their reach to additional school districts.
- Cattlemen’s Processing, located in Cochise, will expand their current operations as the only USDA-inspected facility in southeast Arizona, home to some of the largest cattle ranches in the country. The funds will be used to expand the processing capacity and continue to support the Southeast Arizona Ranching Community.
The Center’s work in Arizona is led by Local First Arizona, in partnership with the Arizona State Department of Agriculture and the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension.
“At Local First Arizona, our mission is to strengthen Arizona’s food system to be more resilient, climate-smart and accessible by supporting local food businesses,” said Patty Emmert, director of Resilient Food Systems at Local First Arizona. “By partnering with the Southwest Regional Food Business Center, we are able to expand the capacity for these three projects by providing financial assistance and focus on regional needs and investments.”
In May 2023, USDA awarded $360 million to finalists to establish 12 Regional Food Business Centers, including $840,000 in Arizona to financially assist local farmers, ranchers and processors, along with one-on-one business consulting, marketing and training support. The SWRFBC is accelerating a resilient, diverse and competitive local and regional food system by improving opportunities for food and farm businesses across a four-state region of Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah.
“The Southwest Regional Food Business Center creates a resilient and diverse local food system by improving opportunities for food and farm businesses across Arizona and the southwest,” said USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt. “The Center’s three pillars of service are coordination, technical assistance and capacity building and the funds provided by the Business Builder Awards will help empower these three businesses to launch and expand their operations.”
