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The Daily Tar Heel

Food processing center faces budget cuts

As the state prepares to hand down its budget for the next fiscal year, the biggest advocate for local farmers is bracing for unexpected cuts.

Operating mainly via state-supported grants, the Piedmont Food and Agricultural Processing Center will serve as an incubator for area farmers and food entrepreneurs when it opens in June.

But the N.C. House of Representatives budget that progressed to the N.C. Senate on May 5 could make the center’s job much more difficult by calling for the complete elimination of the project’s largest supporter, the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission.

Noah Ranells, agricultural economic development coordinator for Orange County, said the center could face forfeiting up to $75,000 if the budget passes as it currently stands. This funding was intended for personnel, operations and maintenance, he said.

“I don’t know why — when you have something good — why you stop it,” he said. “I know we have to balance our checkbooks, but this funding has been critical for so many local entrepreneurs.”

Ranells said if a budget that cuts the program’s funding does pass, the center will seek to advance the spending of the funds it has been allotted.

“There really isn’t another replacement for funding in the state,” he said. “There are some private foundations that we could approach, but they cover a very broad range of programs, and the amount of funding available is significantly less.”

Jeff Jennings, program officer for the Tobacco Trust Fund Commission, said the House budget calls for the phasing out of his organization and the 15 to 20 grants that would still be under way by the end of December.

The fund has been in operation for 10 years and currently has a staff of three, all of whom would lose their jobs if the House budget comes to fruition, Jennings said.

“We’ve been working hard to make sure that folks over in the House and Senate are aware that the phasing out of the commission is part of the deal,” he said.

Jennings said the bulk of the agricultural center’s $479,000 grant has already been dispensed to cover renovation expenses, but the center could lose funding for operational and staff costs.

Center Manager Matthew Roybal said losing these funds wouldn’t have an immediate impact on the center, but it would affect his ability to provide the programming the 120 interested applicants are anticipating.

“Our goal was to provide our clients with resources and expertise to start successful businesses,” he said. “The less funding we get means there’s less we can do.”

Contact the City Editor at city@dailytarheel.com.

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