USDA closes Regional Food Business Center Program, halting funding and support for Great Lakes Midwest Farmers

July 31, 2025

The Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center formed to offer coordination, technical assistance, and capacity building opportunities for farmers, producers, and other food business owners in support of a more resilient and competitive food system.

Contact:

M. Jahi Johnson-Chappell, Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems, chappe17@msu.edu 
Colleen Matts, Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems, matts@msu.edu  
Gary Besaw, Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and Food Systems, gbesaw@mitw.com 
Rodger Cooley, Chicago Food Policy Action Council, rcooley@chicagofoodpolicy.com 
Virginia Pleasant, Northwest Indiana Food Council, virginia@nwifoodcouncil.org 
Anne Massie, Northwest Indiana Food Council, info@nwifoodcouncil.org 
Sarah Larson, Food Finance Institute of the Universities of Wisconsin System, sarah.larson@business.wisconsin.edu

East Lansing, MI, July 31, 2025 - On July 15, 2025, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the termination of the Regional Food Business Center program, a $400 million effort administered by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) dedicated to supporting farmers and food businesses across the country. As part of that program, the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center was formed to offer coordination, technical assistance, and capacity building opportunities through financial assistance for farmers, producers, and other food business owners in support of a more resilient and competitive food system. Across this Center’s region of Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, $6.9 million would have been distributed to small- and mid-sized farm and food business entrepreneurs via the Business Builder Subaward program, with an additional nearly $4 million in educational assistance, such as training focused on post-production and marketing activities. 

Michigan State University (MSU) Center for Regional Food Systems (CRFS) was selected to lead the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center and entered a $20 million cooperative agreement with the USDA in July 2023 to coordinate this effort through mid-2028 with regional partners: Chicago Food Policy Action Council (IL), Northwest Indiana Food Council (IN), Food Finance Institute of the Universities of Wisconsin (WI), and the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and Food Systems. These organizations together built an enduring infrastructure uniquely equipped to fund and support individual businesses, as well as confront some of the overarching challenges of this region’s food systems.

In January 2025, the USDA paused reimbursement payments to all 12 Regional Food Business Centers as they reviewed the program. Despite this freeze, the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center team prepared to launch the initial phase of their Business Builder Subaward program. A plan to implement this subaward program, including the application, was approved by AMS in the spring of 2025. This first competitive phase was designed to provide 20-400 subawards to small to mid-sized farm businesses across the region, ranging from $5,000-$100,000 for a total of $2 million.

“Because we could not be certain of USDA reimbursements, the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center had to pause the launch of the application for our Business Builder Subaward program, despite being poised to do so,” said Colleen Matts, Director, Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center and CRFS Assistant Director of Strategy. “I believe that the opportunity lost for our food systems is the biggest takeaway from this program's termination. Over $10 million of financial support and technical assistance was intended for farmers, producers, and food businesses in the Great Lakes Midwest region alone.” 

In the past year, the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center hosted seven webinars, including a series focused on preparing for funding with corresponding recordings and resource sheets that will remain publicly available. Throughout the duration of this program, the Center team offered assistance, such as one-on-one coaching, grant writing support, producer support cohorts, and farming conference registrations. Led by the expertise of the five key regional partners, these offerings were tailored to address the unique needs of Great Lakes Midwest food business owners and producers. In taking the time to build a strong collaborative foundation with these partners, the relationships built will persist to positively impact the region. 

“Despite this loss of funding for our region, we remain committed to providing the assistance farmers and food businesses need to thrive,” said Jamie Rahrig, Assistant Director of Partnerships at CRFS. The Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center partners will continue to support farmers, producers, and food businesses as part of resilient food systems, regardless of federal support for these much-needed efforts. 

For more information, visit glm-rfbc.msu.edu or contact glm-rfbc@msu.edu.   

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About the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center

The Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center is dedicated to offering coordination, technical assistance, and capacity building opportunities for farmers, producers, and other food business owners, in support of a more resilient and competitive food system. Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems (MI) coordinates the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center that is comprised of network coordinators – Chicago Food Policy Action Council (IL), Northwest Indiana Food Council (IN), Food Finance Institute of the Universities of Wisconsin System (WI), and the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and Food Systems – who seek to take a transformational, rather than transactional, approach.