2007 Grant Recipient Press Release
2006 Grant Recipients
2005 Grant Recipients
2004 Grant Recipients
2003 Grant Recipients
2002 Grant Recipients
2001 Grant Recipients
A Six-Year Retrospective
The North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission is pleased to present this Six-Year Retrospective featuring 33 successful projects funded by the commission from 2001 to 2007.We believe this publication will help North Carolinians - including elected representatives, community leaders and the general public - more fully understand the role the Tobacco Trust Fund Commission is playing to secure a better future for those citizens adversely affected by the decline of tobacco-related income and employment.
Grants - 2002 Recipients
Project: Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Project
Contact: Betty Bailey
Executive Director
RAFI-USA
PO Box 640
Pittsboro, NC 27312
919-542-1396
Grant Amount: $300,000
Summary: Project will generate up to 40 individual and community cost-share initiatives in nine target counties across NC. The objective is to test farm-based initiatives to replace or supplement tobacco income. The project will involve approximately 640 individuals.
Area Served: Ashe, Allegheny, Bertie, Edgecombe, Halifax, Martin, Northampton, Pitt, Columbus
http://www.rafiusa.org/programs/TOBACCO/TOBACCO.html
Project: Building a Permanent Structure for the Columbus Community Farmer's Market
Contact: Irvin Brown
612 Arthur Collier Road
Bladenboro, NC 28320
910-648-4575
Grant Amount: $65,000
Summary: Project will construct a new, permanent farmer's market. The farmer's market will give the small farmer supplemental income and consumers an alternative to buying produce from the supermarket.
Area Served: Columbus, Robeson, Brunswick, Bladen
Project: Advancing the Stokes Agricultural Community
Contact: Stokes County
PO Box 20
Danbury, NC 27016
336-593-2811
Grant Amount: $99,000
Summary: Project will assist tobacco growers and workers in growing and marketing alternative crops. Organization will provide training, financial counseling, and mental health counseling. Pilot project at the county level.
Area Served: Stokes County
Project: North Carolina Hazardous Materials Carrier Authentication Pilot Project
Contact: Northeast Partnership
119 West Water St.
Edenton, NC 27932
1-888-872-8562
Grant Amount: $350,000
Summary: Project will help support the location of Transforming Technologies, Inc. to Martin County. Company provides training for hazardous materials truckers and will provide training and alternate employment for displaced tobacco workers. In Martin County more than 22 percent of families are at poverty level. The project is expected to create 50 jobs initially and 200 jobs at build-out and provide a capital investment of over $10 million.
Area Served: Statewide including Chowan, Martin, Pitt, Beaufort
Project: Tobacco Transitions: Community Based Economic Renewal, Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project
Contact: Gary Gumz, Director
ASAP
564 Indigo Bunting Lane
Marshall, NC 28753
828-649-9452
Grant Amount: $347,500
Summary: Project will provide direct assistance to 25 burley tobacco growers to help transition to organic food production systems and develop new local and regional market opportunities for these growers. Also, the project will direct financial assistance to the newly established Mountain Tailgate Market Association that serves 100 area farmers (including 30 tobacco farmers). Project will also provide support to Carolina Organic Growers, Inc. that provides marketing opportunities to transitioned organic farmers.
Area Served: Madison, Buncombe
http://www.asapconnections.org or http://www.BuyAppalachian.org
Project: Re-Tooling for Alternative Agricultural Enterprises
Contact: Keith Baldwin
NC A&T State University
PO Box 21928
Greensboro, NC 27420
336-334-7957
Grant Amount: $228,040
Summary: Project will provide instruction, evidence, and experience in crop production techniques by providing training in alternative and specialty crops. The project will provide training on using plastic mulch and irrigation systems as well as providing a subsidy to 64 growers each year over two years. It is anticipated that this type of cultivation will yield five times as much as bare ground crops.
Area Served: Statewide
Project : Recovery of Growers Self-Assessment Funds to the
NC Tobacco Foundation for the NC Tobacco Research Commission
Contact: Keith Oakley
Assistant Secretary
NC Tobacco Foundation
NCSU
Campus Box 7645
Raleigh, NC 27695-7645
919-515-2000
Grant Amount: $350,000
Summary: Project will provide research and educational programs to support a competitive and profitable position for tobacco markets. It is estimated that the project will assist 12,000 tobacco growers and related agribusinesses.
Area Served: Statewide
http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/agcomm/magazine/spring03/disease.htm
Project: Support for the Transition to Value-Added Agribusiness
Contact: Keith Oakley
Assistant Secretary
NC Agricultural Foundation
NCSU
Campus Box 7645
Raleigh, NC 27695-7645
919-515-2000
Grant Amount: $295,000
Summary: Project will work with farmers to provide agricultural and economic strategies and transfer technologies such as on-farm diversification and entrepreneurship through hands-on consultation. The project will conduct community meetings to identify needs and participants, conduct technical and business education workshops, and provide individual guidance to farmers piloting the program. The project will target 200 families.
Area Served: Statewide
http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/foundation/ag.html
Project : Johnston County Farmer's Market and Craft Center
Contact: Leroy Moore
Owner/Manager
3901 Swift Creek Road
Smithfield, NC 27577
919-934-3657
Grant Amount: $350,000
Summary: Project will convert a tobacco warehouse to a farmer's market and craft center. The project will provide stalls for up to 106 vendors. From a list of 950 potential suppliers, 35 have already reserved 55 booths, which would create 105 full-time jobs. Provides opportunity for area farmers to diversify their operation and sell their products.
Area Served: Johnston, Wake, Wilson, Harnett, Wayne
Project : Expanding Markets for Organic Tobacco Growers
Contact: Carolina Farm Stewardship Association
PO Box 448
Pittsboro, NC 27312
919-542-2402
Grant Amount: $21,850
Summary: Project will develop and deliver a workshop series to organic tobacco growers on organic production and certification with a focus on crops that can be rotated with organic tobacco, and assist in the development of a grower-owned marketing cooperative. The project will target 20 tobacco growers who currently grow organic tobacco.
Area Served: Caswell, Person, Granville, Vance, Alamance, Orange, Durham
http://www.carolinafarmstewards.org
Project : Equipping Conservation Districts Through Automation and Outreach for Greater Service to Farmers Facing New Environmental Standards and Regulations
Contact: Cecil Settle
Executive Director
NC Foundation for Soil and Water Conservation Districts
2012 Lodestar Dr.
Raleigh, NC 27615
919-873-2158
Grant Amount: $350,000
Summary: Project will minimize impact of farming on natural resources, particularly water resources, by installing computers in conservation districts, conduct outreach initiatives to targeted farmers, raise capacity of staff to provide high-tech services, and help farmers determine nutrient losses on their farms and plan for nutrient management. The project will be implemented in at least 75 counties.
Area Served: Statewide
Project : Tobacco Grower Communication Assistance
Contact: Graham Boyd
Executive Vice President
Tobacco Growers Association of NC
3700 National Drive, Suite 212
Raleigh, NC 27612
919-781-2307
Grant Amount: $46,420
Summary: Project will help provide timely information to tobacco farm families by assisting with postage costs of 10,000 bi-monthly Tobacco Grower Newsletters and the printing and distribution of the Tobacco Grower Resource Guide.
Area Served: Statewide
Project : Hay Relief Grant
Contact: NCDA&CS
P.O. Box 27647
Raleigh, NC 27611
919-733-7125
Grant Amount: $5,000
Area Served: Statewide
http://www.ncagr.com/paffairs/release/2003/2-03hayalert.htm