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Financial Resources for Local Market Producers and Processors | |
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| | Accessing financial resources/capital can often be a challenge for Alberta’s local market producers and small scale processors.
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Challenges can include:
- Lack of awareness of financial organizations and programs
- Limited understanding of the organization and the resources or programs offered
- Conventional credit policy and funding programs designed to serve primary agriculture or export- driven agricultural operations may not meet the specific needs of local market producer and processor operations (i.e.: Farm direct, Farmers’ markets, Community Supported Agriculture/CSA operations, Organic, Urban agriculture, Small Plot Intensive/SPIN farming, etc.)
- Limited number of programs and resources that address various unique needs of these operations. (i.e.: new or immigrant farmers, small loans, unconventional market channels or production practices)
As part of Explore Local’s (EL) goal to position our clients to successfully access appropriate financing, an environmental scan of local market producer and small scale processor friendly resources in the areas of finance and community investment was originally conducted in 2014 and has been updated for 2018.
The information gathered in the environmental scan has been used to strategically position EL’s finance and community investment efforts and extension activities. In addition, by compiling the information in a quick reference format and providing it to EL clients and to the Agriculture and Forestry staff who work closely with local market producers and processors, we hope to have increased awareness and accessibility of appropriate funding options.
This spreadsheet or PDF briefly describes a number of programs that may assist local market producers and small scale processors to access capital. This document is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all available programs that may be of assistance, but rather as starting point to build from. Chartered banks were not included in this listing. Only the most relevant programs from organizations have been listed. Each program is categorized, has a brief description and includes eligibility, amount, special characteristics and organization contact information.
Please direct any inquiries to Vince Ohama at (vince.ohama@gov.ab.ca). |
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For more information about the content of this document, contact Vince Ohama.
This document is maintained by Delores Serafin.
This information published to the web on May 19, 2015.
Last Reviewed/Revised on August 27, 2018.
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