Piedmont Triad Regional Council, NC
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WELCOME TO GROWING
FOOD FINANCE IN THE TRIAD!
Step into a vibrant community where access to healthy food meets financial resources. Our program fuels local food enterprises and food retailers in the Triad, empowering business owners and their communities by transforming challenges into opportunities for long-term success.
OUR RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
INGREDIENTS
INSTRUCTIONS
Growing Food Finance will develop a path to lending for eligible food retailers and food enterprises that are expanding healthy food access in underserved communities in the Piedmont Triad Region. This program provides financial support, educational resources, and community connections to improve supply chain resiliency, increase access to healthy foods, and preserve quality jobs across the Triad.
MIXING UP SUCCESS:
Food Finance Technical Assistance (TA) Hub
Just like a great recipe, building a thriving food business takes the right ingredients! The Food Finance TA Hub offers convenings, trainings, and resources to help you:
- Find the right financial mix – Learn how to be better prepared to access and implement loans and grants.
- Strengthen your business foundation – Get expert tips on planning, scaling, operations, and sustainability.
- Serve up stronger sales – Master marketing, branding, and customer connections to grow your reach.
These sessions will give you the tools and confidence to cook up success. Stay tuned for upcoming seminars and trainings!
Food Finance Technical Assistance Hub: Upcoming Seminars & Trainings
Food Finance Technical Assistance Hub: Resources
Fuel Your Growth Through Access to Capital
Growing Food Finance provides resources that allow greater access to capital that can help eligible food retail and food enterprises grow. With $2 million dedicated to:
- Lowering Borrowing Costs – Interest rate buydowns reduce your loan expenses.
- Making Loans More Accessible – A loan guarantee pool helps lenders take on risk and flexibility to help businesses secure funding.
- Building a pathway to lending- grants intended as capital infusion for projects to become "loan ready"
By alleviating lending risks and reduced interest rates, we’re making it easier for food retailers and enterprises to expand, invest in their operations, and build a stronger, more resilient food system.
Eligibility Checklist
To qualify for Growing Food Finance support, your business must meet ALL of these criteria:
- Located in the Piedmont Triad
- Improves access to nutritious, affordable food
- Primarily serves an underserved, low- to moderate-income area
- Not a restaurant, food pantry, or focused on emergency food
- Accepts SNAP and/or WIC (if involved in retail sales)
- Expands or preserves the availability of staple and perishable foods at SNAP retailers
If you check all the boxes, you may be eligible for funding and support!
OUR MISSION & PARTNERS
We’re a dynamic public-private financing initiative proudly awarded to the Piedmont Triad Regional Council through the Reinvestment Fund. Our mission is to bolster food supply chain resiliency, improve access to healthy foods in underserved areas, create and preserve quality jobs, and revitalize low-income communities by providing grants and loans to eligible healthy food retailers and food enterprises.
In partnership with the Piedmont Triad Regional Food Council, Self-Help, and Partner Community Capital.
Our work is grounded in strong community ties and sustainable growth. Funding for the HFFI Partnerships Program is provided by the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development, authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill and reauthorized in 2018.