GRANTS/FUNDING

1. Capital Magnet Fund

Grants to finance affordable housing and community revitalization efforts that benefit low-income people and communities. More information...

Application Deadline: August 31, 2017

2. Centers for Agricultural Health and Safety (U54)

Funding to operate a Center for Agriculture Health and Safety, which will conduct research and help translate scientific discoveries focused on improving worker safety and health in the areas of agriculture, forestry, and fishing. More information...

Letter of Intent (Optional): September 29, 2017

Application Deadline: November 30, 2017

3. National Leadership Grants for Libraries

National Leadership Grants for Libraries (NLG-L) support projects that address significant challenges and opportunities facing the library and archives fields and that have the potential to advance theory and practice. Successful proposals will generate results such as new tools, research findings, models, services, practices, or alliances that will be widely used, adapted, scaled, or replicated to extend the benefits of federal investment. More information...

Application Deadline: September 1, 2017

4. Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program

The Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program (LB21) supports developing a diverse workforce of librarians to better meet the changing learning and information needs of the American public by: enhancing the training and professional development of librarians, developing faculty and library leaders, and recruiting and educating the next generation of librarians. More information...

Application Deadline: September 1, 2017

5. Rural Broadband Access Loan and Loan Guarantee Program

The Rural Broadband Access Loan and Loan Guarantee Program furnishes loans and loan guarantees to provide funds for the costs of construction, improvement, or acquisition of facilities and equipment needed to provide service at the broadband lending speed as outlined in the Federal Register. Applicants are encouraged to review the FY 2017 application guide.

More information on how to apply for funding is available on page 34473 of the July 25th Federal Register.

Application Deadline: September 30, 2017

6. Economic Development Assistance Programs

The Economic Development Administration's (EDA's) mission is to lead the Federal economic development agenda by promoting innovation and competitiveness, preparing American regions for economic growth and success in the worldwide economy. More information...

Application Deadline: Rolling

7. Rural & Tribal Passenger Transportation Technical Assistance

The rural program provides technical assistance for small communities of less than 50,000 people. The focus of the program is economic development: helping small and emerging businesses and stimulating economic development through new and improved public transportation.
The tribal program is designed to help Native American tribes enhance economic growth adn development by improving transportation services. Technical assistance is limited to planning and may support transit service improvements and expansion, system start-up, facility development, development of marketing plans and materials, transportation coordination, training and other public transit problem solving activities.
For more information and to register, click here.

Location: Nationwide
Application Deadline: Rolling
Source: Community Transportation Association of America

8. Community Food Project Competitive Grant

Community Food Projects are designed to increase food security in communities by bringing the whole food system together to assess strengths, establish linkages, and create systems that improve the self-reliance of community members over their food needs.
The program is designed to: Meet the needs of low-income people by increasing their access to fresher, more nutritious food supplies; Increase the self-reliance of communities in providing for their own food needs; Promote comprehensive responses to local food, farm, and nutrition issues; Meet specific state, local, or neighborhood food and agricultural needs for infrastructure improvement and development; Plan for long-term solutions; Create innovative marketing activities that mutually benefit agricultural producers and low-income consumers.
Preferred projects also develop linkages between two or more sectors of the food system, support the development of entrepreneurial projects, develop innovative linkages between the for-profit and nonprofit food sectors, encourage long-term planning activities and multisystem, and build long-term capacity of communities to address the food and agricultural problems of communities, such as food policy councils and food planning associations.
More information on the Community Food Project Grant
Application Deadline: November 30

TRAINING/EVENTS/WEBINARS

1. Standards for Excellence 2.0

This includes expanded and enhanced benchmarks for nonprofit best practices, including 78 benchmarks for best practices; new sample policies in social media and information technologies all nonprofits need to know; and improved information on outcome based measurements and logic models to prove mission impact.

Durant - September 19-20

Tulsa - September 20-21

2. Webinar Series: Get More Grants

Maryn Boess, a veteran nonprofit professional, social entrepreneur, and leader in capacity-building and grantsmanship training, has won more than $42 million for her clients in a single ten-year period. Since 2000 she has focused on creating and delivering a portfolio of high-quality, low-cost grants information tools, resources, and workshops shared by thousands of nonprofits nationwide.

Grants Research...with a Twist - October 4

Inside the Grantmaker's Black Box - December 6

3. Main Street Application Session

Attendees will learn about the application and selection process for the Oklahoma Main Street Program as well as the Main Street Approach to economic revitalization. If you are coming to these sessions and not planning to attend the rest of the OML conference, please call the Oklahoma Main Street Office at 405.815.5249 by September 5, 2017 to register. In addition, application information will be available online at http://okcommerce.gov/mainstreet after September 13, 2017.

When: Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Session 1: 2pm - 2:50pm (Main Street overview and presentation by longtime MS Community)

Session 2: 3pm - 3:50pm (Application process)

Where: Cox Business Center (100 Civic Center, Tulsa, OK 73103)

4. Bringing Life Downtown After Hours: Arts, Shopping, Culture After 5

Being open evening hours is not just a matter of extending store hours. It is more like opening a whole different store with different customers. Becky McCray and Deb Brown be sharing ideas and examples from real small towns. Deb will share from her experience as a Chamber of Commerce director, and Becky will share from her perspective as a business owner in a small town. More information...

When: Webinar continually available.

5. What is the Promise Zone? How does it benefit my community?

The Promise Zone offers preference points on many federal grant applications the Choctaw Nation and our partners seek. To gain these preference points, the Choctaw Nation Promise Zone must certify and verify applications. These preference points give applications a "leg up" as they head to federal agencies for review. HUD Form 50153 must be signed by a Promise Zone Official before it's submitted with any grant. Sara Jane Smallwood is the Promise Zone Official for Choctaw Nation.

Please visit this link to obtain HUD Form 50153 and view the full list of grants with the Promise Zone preference points.

6. What are the Promise Zone's geographical boundaries?

The Promise Zone is a place-based initiative, and is confined to a set of Census tracts in southeastern Oklahoma. These areas were chosen because of their high need and opportunity for grants and programs to positively impact communities. Promise Zone preference is assigned to these areas. However, many of our school districts and communities in southeastern Oklahoma cross Census tract lines. Contact the Promise Zone team to help determine Promise Zone eligibility or for any questions on the boundaries. We have created an interactive map of the Promise Zone to help determine and highlight the Promise Zone boundaries. It's easy to use, and users can type in addresses to see if they're in the Zone. This is a helpful and effective tool for Choctaw Nation and our partners.

Please visit this link to use the interactive Promise Zone map.

7. What Can We Teach the Seafood Value Chain?

PhD Student Seeks Conversations About Inventory Management
Stephanie Webb, 3rd year doctoral student at UC Santa Cruz, is looking to support the seafood value chain. If you are willing to share your experience with inventory management and traceability in other value chains, she would greatly appreciate your time. You can contact her at swebb1@ucsc.edu.

8. How Regional Food System Investment Creates More Equitable Communities - an NGFN webinar.

Thu, Sep 21, starting 3:30 PM Eastern, 12:30 Pacific
Associated with the Harvesting Opportunity book (see above), this webinar will explore examples of regional food system actors that have been proactive and thoughtful in how they incorporate equity and inclusion considerations into their efforts, including where those have been successful, and where there is opportunity to improve.
Register now!

9. Tools for Assessing Economic Impact: A Primer for Food System Practitioners

The MSU Center for Regional Food Systems is pleased to announce a new guide, Tools for Assessing Economic Impact: A Primer for Food System Practitioners, and an upcoming webinar to provide an overview of tools used to assess food systems-related economic growth.

This guide summarizes and provides examples of tools that food systems practitioners can use to assess economic impacts, including standard commercial models as well as alternative community-based approaches.

The webinar is designed for anyone engaged in food systems work who is interested in commissioning an economic impact assessment. Join in on Tuesday, September 19, 2017 from 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm Eastern Time.
Register for the webinar

10. Good Greens September 28th Meeting Agenda

Our next GoodGreens meeting is 10:00 AM to noon Central Time, Thursday, September 28th. You can find the agenda for that meeting, as well as call-in and participation information further below. We'll send out final information closer to the meeting date.
If you have questions about USDA programs or GoodGreens, or if you'd like to present during a future meeting, please email Alan Shannon or call 312-353-1044.

· Christina McInnis, Bon Secour Valley Ingredients (BSVI), will share information about her business’ new division in Foley, Alabama, which will open a 40,000-square-foot plant to dry and process fruits and vegetables. This value-added model will help to reduce dependence on volatile prices for produce, and will reduce food waste by processing produce that doesn’t meet standards for distribution. The main ingredients for initial plant production include: chicory, sweet potatoes, bananas, carrots, sweet corn, bread fruit, butternut squash, kale, and pumpkin.

· Jennifer Meta Robinson (Indiana University-Anthropology) and James Farmer (Indiana University-School of Public Health-Bloomington) will discuss their recently published book, Selling Local—Why Local Food Movements Matter. Selling Local draws on many years of fieldwork and experience to discuss (1) the broader impacts of local food movements on communities and individuals, (2) new manifestations and improvements, and (3) a systems approach for future research on local food systems.

· Julie Schilf, Materials Management Branch, USEPA Region 5 will share information about EPA’s Sustainable Management of Food Program, which is designed to make reduction of wasted food easier, informed, and goal-oriented. EPA commenced its food recovery efforts in 2011 with the launch of the Food Recovery Challenge. Since then, EPA has created a library of food recovery tools and resources, which can be found on EPA’s Sustainable Management of Food website. The EPA and USDA also announced the nation’s first Food Loss and Waste Goal (2015) aimed at reducing the amount of food sent to our landfills in half by the year 2030. These efforts can help organizations save money, feed hungry people, and keep food out of landfills.

· Erin Biehl, Project Manager, and Roni Neff, Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, will talk about a new report on urban food system resilience in Baltimore to stimulate thinking and discussion on ways to make organizations and local food systems more resilient.

· Heather Tarczan, Growing Solutions Farm, will speak about the farm which is a vocational training site for young adults with autism. The site teaches young adult participants transferable employment skills, allows them to get fresh air and exercise and exposes them to urban agriculture. The 1.2 acre produce farm will grow 10,000 lbs of food this year and donate 3,000 lbs to Grace Seeds Ministry, a nonprofit that supplies area soup kitchens with fresh produce. The remainder of the produce is sold to area restaurants, at a weekly farm stand, and given to young adult participants to take home.

· Michelle Ajamian, Appalachian Staple Foods Collaborative, will speak about Shagbark Seed & Mill's focus on regional food systems, food sovereignty and security, and increasing organic farming.

Attending Remotely

· For those participating remotely, call-in and Live Meeting/Webinar information is below.

· Call-in information is the same for both.

Call-in Information:

· Number: 1-888-844-9904

· Access Code: 7734875

Live Meeting/Webinar Information:

· First Time Users: To save time before the meeting, check your system to make sure it is ready to use Microsoft Office Live Meeting

· Download and install the Microsoft Live Meeting Client here

· Click Join the meeting

· Launch.rtc should download. Click it. Live Meeting Client should start.

· If prompted for Meeting ID and Entry Code, they are:

· Meeting ID: GGSept17 No Entry Code

· If you still cannot enter the meeting, contact support

· Notice: Microsoft Office Live Meeting can be used to record meetings. By participating in this meeting, you agree that your communications may be monitored or recorded at any time during the meeting.