Would you like some financial assistance for projects to improve your business? There is an opportunity out there for pallet companies, sawmills and biomass producers to tap into government grants for upgrading a facility or developing a new plant or building. These funds are intended for new technology deployment, biomass projects or other endeavors to improve forest utilization and advance forest health.
Unfortunately, these funds are going away soon, and this year may be your best chance to participate.
These projects are being funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 through the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA). The latest guidelines will be released sometime in October, and the submission deadlines for a proposal are likely to be sometime in mid-December. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are available up to one million dollars for each approved project.
The National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (NWPCA) recently sponsored a webinar with Adam Smith, a wood innovation specialist with the USDA. The purpose of this webinar was to help pallet companies find out more about this limited opportunity.
There are three major programs offering grant funding: the Wood Innovation Grants, the Community Wood Energy Grants and the Wood Products Infrastructure Assistance Grants. More information is available at www.grants.gov and the Wood Innovation homepage (https://www.fs.usda.gov/science-technology/energy-forest-products/wood-innovation/grants)
Members of the NWPCA can see a replay of the webinar at www.palletcentral.com.
The first step that Adam Smith recommended is to reach out to your local regional coordinator. You can find a list of contacts at https://www.fs.usda.gov/science-technology/energy-forest-products/wood-innovation-contacts. These people can answer basic questions and provide some basic direction on the process. The regional coordinators cannot help you write a grant proposal or evaluate your idea. Smith suggested in the webinar that the process is designed to be simple and should not require a professional grant writer to submit a successful application.
Another key step is to register for free at www.sam.gov before any awarded grant can be executed. Projects can run 2-3 years to complete and cannot exceed five years. This year the programs are supposed to offer $34 million. But the available funds in the end could be much higher.
Examples of previous approved projects include:
- Purchase and installation of wood products manufacturing equipment
- Contractual costs associated with updating existing equipment/lines
- Development and installation of combined heat and power systems
- Improvement of sawmill dry kiln operations
- Upgrade of lumber manufacturing lines at sawmills
- Contractual expenses related to new facility start-up and expansion of existing facilities
There are some specific limitations, such as any covered equipment cannot be mobile. Some of the programs required that trees processed through the processes must come from government land. Others are open for timber processing from any legal timber source. The good news is that these funds have limited strings attached. You will have to match what the government provides with your own funds. But this assistance can make it easier to tackle projects given the high cost of borrowing money right now.
Don’t wait, this opportunity can help you prepare for the upswing when it comes as well as develop new uses for wood residuals and biomass. For more specific information on each program visit the Wood Innovation homepage at https://www.fs.usda.gov/science-technology/energy-forest-products/wood-innovation/grants.
