MADISON COUNTY – A delivery service that distributes locally produced foods direct from Central New York farms to the consumer has received a $60,000 grant from National Grid.
The funding from National Grid will be used to write an enhanced business marketing plan and to develop a new website. The Center for Agricultural Development and Entrepreneurship has pledged an additional $15,000 towards the website.
“We believe that local food distribution is a vital part of making small and medium scale farms throughout Central New York viable,” said Art Hamlin, director of economic development. “National Grid is deeply committed to supporting Central New York’s agricultural community. We are excited to see the small business growth and development, as well as job creation, which we believe will result from this support.”
CNY Bounty, formerly known as Chenango Bounty, works with 119 farmers and processors and has delivered food to over 4,000 people. Participating producers set their own prices to ensure that they receive a fair wage for their products, and CNY Bounty marks up the prices by 30 percent to ensure the project’s sustainability.
In 2010, the service successfully broke the half million dollar sales mark with over $550,000 in sales to date. More than $425,000 was returned to area producers.
CNY Bounty presently delivers institutional orders to Hamilton College and to a distribution center in Ithaca, but full service was suspended on Jan. 31 due to vehicle maintenance problems, web site issues and staffing. Commerce Chenango Economic Development Director Jennifer Tavares said new delivery vans are still needed, but deliveries are scheduled to resume in Chenango, Madison and Onondaga counties as soon as the new webs site is completed. The target date for re-launch is late August.
“Keep your eyes on them. There’s tons of demand for their service. We need to do everything we can to make this work in the long term,” Tavares reported to Chenango County’s Planning and Economic Development Committee this month.
Distribution is one of the biggest hurdles that the small and mid-scale agricultural producers in Central New York face. Existing distribution systems generally cater to larger farms, which can supply steady streams of goods at lower prices.
CNY Bounty was created in 2007 with an initial grant from the Chenango County Economic Development Fund, Chenango County Agriculture Development Council, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chenango County, and the New York Farm Viability Institute. Madison County joined the project in June of 2008 with funding from the CNY Community Foundation, Madison County’s Agricultural Economic Development Program, and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Madison County.
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Madison County will facilitate the business planning and website development for CNY Bounty. Steve Holzbaur and Wayne Mellor from the Better Food Group will oversee the business marketing planning, and Royal Westwater from Agile Commerce Technology Partners will lead the website selection process.