Submitted by: Emily Potter, Northeastern Ontario Regional Communication Coordinator
Looking to supplement your local association’s cash flow for larger initiatives? OSCIA can help with that!
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Whether it be purchasing a lime spreader to rent out to members, organizing a large member event or an in-field trial, there are many easy-access grant and loan programs available to help support these association initiatives. You may find yourself asking: how can we, as a local association, access these programs if we are not incorporated? The good news is, as a grassroots member association of the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association, you can partner with the provincial association to access funding.
By utilizing the provincial office as the lead applicant for these projects, the local associations do not have to worry about any liabilities and can maximize their cash flow by applying to funding and loan programs that only incorporated organizations can typically access. Implementing projects in this way is a unique way to diversify the member benefits of a local association, as well as to build ties with other local agricultural groups, potentially increasing the revenue and building the membership of the association itself.
Recently, two local associations in the northeast were able to work with the provincial association to support their members by accessing grant and loan programs.
The Parry Sound/East Nipissing Soil & Crop Improvement Association collaborated with their local BFO and OFA groups to purchase a Woods precision overseeder. By having OSCIA sign off as the lead applicant, these associations were able to apply to and receive funding from the Sustainable New Products and Productivity (SNAPP) program for the purchase. The overseeder will allow the local members to improve and revitalize their pastures and establish cover crops with minimal tillage.
Spreading Lime in Algoma SCIA, Photo credit: Dale Cowan
The Algoma Soil & Crop Improvement Association recently drafted a memorandum of understanding between the provincial office and the local association, allowing them to be eligible for a loan from the East Algoma Community Futures Development Corporation. This loan allowed them to respond to the needs of their members by spearheading delivery of agricultural lime to the district for members to use as a soil pH amendment. This was necessary after their local supplier was unable to continue bringing in lime. Algoma SCIA also owns a lime spreader that members are able to rent, so by also offering a supply of lime they were able to solve an issue for their members, filling a gap until someone in the private sector was able to step forward and be the supplier.
Both of these good news stories shed light on another way that OSCIA is able to assist their local associations. Considering applying for grants or loans? Contact OSCIA today to see how they can help your association!