For the past three years the Mad River Food Hub in Waitsfield has been providing facilities for local food producers to process and package value-added products.
The 4,000 square foot facility includes processing rooms for meat and vegetable products, freezer and cooler space, dry storage and a smoke room.
Another facility, the Vermont Food Venture Center in Hardwick, offers similar services.
This week the food hub, the venture center and the Vermont Community Loan Fund announced a new program that will give producers who work with them more flexibility by allowing them to lease and use equipment both at the centers and off-site.
Robin Morris, owner and founder of the Mad River Food Hub, says the program will give producers access to specialized equipment without having to raise additional capital.
Morris says the program also helps producers transition to their own production facilities by enabling them to lease instead of buy.
According to a news release, the program is available to those who have worked with a food business incubator for a minimum of three months and have an annual revenue of more than $20,000. The equipment must be used in Vermont and “directly or indirectly source ingredients from Vermont farms and producers”.
