The application period closed on September 5, 2024.
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The Community Development Financial Institution Technical Assistance Grant is a new program from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) that expands financial service access for farmers.
Through this program, funds are available for technical assistance grants to certified community development financial institutions (CDFIs) to expand financial services to farmers for two main areas of technical assistance:
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Technical assistance given by CDFIs to farmers, for example assisting farmers with loan readiness or expanding outreach efforts towards target groups with agriculture-focused financial services.
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Technical assistance for CDFIs to increase their own capacity to serve farmers, for example to develop their agriculture lending program or develop internal knowledge and processes as a foundation to provide financial services to farmers.
Funds Available
We expect to award approximately $260,000 using a competitive review process. Applicants may request between $10,000 and $200,000. Once awarded, the deadline for grantees to spend their funds is June 30, 2026. There is not a matching funds requirement for this grant.
Funds available can cover expenses such as supplies, personnel, contracted services, and travel. See the Request for Proposals (RFP) for more information.
Eligible Applicants
Applicants must be certified CDFIs who serve or intend to serve farmers in Minnesota and have participated in at least one USDA grant or loan program. A certified CDFI is a bank, credit union, microloan fund, or venture capital provider who completed a certification process with the U.S. Department of the Treasury's CDFI Fund. Learn more about CDFIs and how they are certified.
Individual farmers are not eligible to apply.
If you are not eligible for this grant and want to learn more about how to use the services of CDFIs, watch this one-minute explainer video and browse this list of CDFIs based in Minnesota.
Applying
The application period closed on Thursday, September 5, 2024.
Carefully read the full CDFI Technical Assistance Grant RFP (PDF) for eligibility and requirements. (If you have trouble opening the PDF, try another browser - Edge and Chrome work well.)
Apply for the CDFI Technical Assistance Grant using our online application system.
- If you're a new user, you need to create an account first.
- Once you're logged in, select "CDFI Technical Assistance Grant."
- Contact us if you need this information in a different format.
Information Session
During an online public information session at noon CT on Wednesday, July 31, the MDA went over some basic information about this program. Watch the information session recording.
Review Process
Awardees will be selected through a competitive process where applications are evaluated by a review committee based on criteria shared in the RFP. Applicants will be notified by October 2024 about the outcome of their application.
CDFI Technical Assistance Grant Q&A
See below for frequently asked questions (FAQ) as well as answers to questions submitted by potential applicants. All question and answers will be posted to this page to ensure transparency and access to the same information for all potential applicants.
If you have questions that are not addressed here or in the RFP, email them to Emily Toner at Emily.Toner@state.mn.us by Tuesday, September 3, at 11:59 p.m.
A CDFI is a community development financial institution, which is a bank, credit union, microloan fund, or venture capital provider who completed a certification process with the U.S. Department of the Treasury's CDFI Fund. Learn more about CDFIs and how they are certified.
You can browse this list of CDFIs based in Minnesota to learn more about these institutions.
CDFIs offer financial services such as loan products and business support.
CDFIs may offer favorable financing terms to farmers because they are mission-based lenders who have a defined target population which they serve. For example, the U.S. Treasury's eligible target populations for CDFIs include low income communities or historically underserved audiences such as African American, Hispanic, Native American, Persons with Disabilities and other groups.
To check if there is a CDFI which might provide services to farmers in your community, browse this list of CDFIs based in Minnesota.
No. Only certified community development finance institutions are eligible to apply.
11:59 p.m. Central Time (CT) on Thursday, September 5, 2024
Apply for the CDFI Technical Assistance Grant using our online application system.
- If you're a new user, you need to create an account first.
- Once you're logged in, select "CDFI Technical Assistance Grant."
- Contact us if you need this information in a different format.
If you are interested to apply but do not yet meet the USDA-related eligibility criteria, we encourage you to look at registering your CDFI as a guaranteed micro lender through the Farm Service Agency. They have a program specifically to enable CDFIs to become guaranteed micro lenders.
