Catalyzing Regional Dairy Workforce Grant 2025

The Catalyzing Regional Dairy Workforce Grant program, offered by the Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center (NE-DBIC), aims to address the critical need for expanded dairy workforce development in the Northeast. This initiative aligns with the NE-DBIC's mission to support and enhance the dairy industry in the region by fostering a skilled and robust workforce. The program is designed to fund the development, expansion, and operations of existing dairy workforce programs, ultimately benefiting current and prospective employees of dairy farms and dairy processors. By strengthening the dairy workforce, the program directly contributes to the sustainability and growth of the Northeast dairy sector. The grant targets a broad range of beneficiaries, including existing and potential employees of dairy farms and dairy processors, as well as organizations that provide dairy workforce programming. This includes universities, colleges, technical career centers, manufacturing extension centers, registered apprenticeship programs, non-profit entities, producer or trade associations, and licensed dairy processors. The impact goals are centered on increasing the number of participants in dairy workforce programs, expanding their geographic reach, serving new or underserved populations, and offering new certifications. The program also aims to create additional pathways for participation and offset participant costs to increase engagement. The program prioritizes projects that expand current programming, add new programs, or provide participant support. Specifically, projects are expected to enhance program operations, services, and participant support. Beyond these core areas, projects should also address at least two of the following funding priorities: increasing worker safety, fostering regional or multi-state collaboration, leading to federally Registered Apprenticeship programs, impacting individuals without an agricultural background, offering training in multiple languages or supporting non-English fluent staff, demonstrating regional or multi-state impacts, ensuring program longevity beyond the grant period, and supporting a diverse range of participants. Expected outcomes include a direct impact on the success of dairy workforce training and apprenticeship programs across the Northeast region. Funded projects are anticipated to lead to an increase in skilled dairy workers, improved worker safety, enhanced collaboration among entities, and the establishment of robust, long-term training initiatives. The availability of up to $800,000 in grants, ranging from $20,000 to $100,000 per project, with a grant period of up to 12 months, provides the necessary resources for programs to achieve these outcomes. Projects are expected to commence in July 2025 and conclude by August 2026.