Ministry of Agriculture Industry Unit offers small grants to Agro-processors

The Industry Unit within the Ministry of Agriculture has announced a Small Business Grant Programme that will provide some financial assistance to businesses in the agro-processing sector.

The programme was specially developed by the Unit to help agro- processors in St. Vincent and the Grenadines(SVG) improve their competitiveness, a release on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture states.

Under this programme, the Industry Unit will award grant of up to $2,000 for product development, packaging and labelling, innovation, and product testing. Applicants for grants, including entrepreneurs and agro-processors, must have an existing business name under which they are currently operating. The business must operate in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and have an annual turnover of no more than EC$50,000.

Applicants must be working along with, or indicate commitment to working along with, the Centre for Enterprise Development Inc. (CED), and the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Bureau of Standards, and must submit to verification and consultative visits by the SVG Bureau of Standards and the CED respectively. The programme also will provide capacity building training to successful applicants, who must attend and successfully complete a basic business skills development training programme with the CED.

The release indicates that application forms are available at the Industry Unit, located on the second floor of the National Insurance Services building, Kingstown, or at the CED office on Grenville Street. Applications close on Tuesday, October 15, 2024.