A Butler nonprofit is one of two veterans’ service organizations designated the governor to distribute grants of up to $10,000 to farmer-veterans to assist with agricultural business needs.

Through the PA Farm Bill, the state Department of Agriculture awarded a total of $200,000 between Westmoreland County nonprofit Greenforge and Community Partnership, a community action agency based in Butler County, to be distributed for “various agricultural business needs ranging from food safety and biosecurity planning to equipment, marketing, or working capital,” according to a statement from Gov. Tom Wolf.

“Pennsylvania’s veterans spent their military career protecting and serving others. When returning to civilian life, they bring critical skillsets and a commitment to service with them,” agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said in a statement. “We have worked hard to ensure that everyone who wants to be a part of agriculture has the opportunity to contribute without barriers. These grants are a down payment on the success of farmer-veterans in the industry, for the success of Pennsylvania.”

The state of Pennsylvania is home to more than 7,000 military veterans identified as agricultural producers.

“This grant program is designed to recognize the great commitment of Pennsylvania’s farmer-veterans: to love and defend their country and also to serve humanity by growing the food that we all need to survive,” said Wolf in the statement. “When I created the Pennsylvania Farm Bill, we included funding dedicated to this group of Pennsylvanians. It’s a ‘thank you’ for their service and a commitment to better serving their needs as they serve ours.”

Community Partnership will receive $100,000 to provide grants up to $10,000 to eligible veteran farmer applicants “as part of their beginning farmer program, to cover costs associated with working capital, equipment, supplies, and other applicable farming needs, in addition to receiving on-farm education and business training support,” according to the statement.

Executive director Sandra Curry said Community Partnership’s inclusion in the program was “a big deal.”

“This isn’t just in Butler County; this is across the state,” she said. “We will be working with all kinds of organizations to identify veteran farmers with existing or new businesses, and then re-granting out funds to help them grow their business.”

The program is applicable to all types of agricultural business, including non-farm-specific entities like equipment dealerships, distilleries and craft butcher shops.

“We have an entrepreneurial training program that if folks want to go through that, either to help start their business or help them start a new facet of their business, they’ll be able to take that,” she said. “We are going to work with other organizations around the region to pull together other supports for them.”

The entrepreneurship program is a collaboration with Butler County Community College, Curry said, and will be a “great compliment” to the grant program. Participants in the entrepreneurship class would also receive credits at BC3 that could be used towards an entrepreneurship certificate.

“They’ll be able to take that class if they want to, and the grant will pay for the materials that they need if they want to take that class,” she said. “It’s designed for folks who are sort of exploring and building out their business model.”

Community Partnership also received of a specialty crop block grant last year, which funded a series of production classes on topics like greenhouse production, small fruits, vegetable growing and food safety. That program is run in conjunction with the Penn State Extension.

“Someone, feasibly, could receive $9,000 to help them start their business, go through the entrepreneurship training program, and go through the production class series, and it’s all covered,” Curry said. “Through some different funding sources, (we) have put together a very interesting pathway for a veteran who would like to start a farm.”

Applications for the program are expected to be ready sometime in October, Curry said.

“I am really excited about how we are going to be able to pair all of these things together and give someone a quality startup experience,” she said.