A cooperative in Maine will receive a $65,000 rural business development grant from the USDA. The intent is to conduct a market and feasibility study, provide training and technical assistance and assist producers to meet processing schedules. The grant will also provide business advice on pricing and marketing.
The cooperative will be centered on Five Pillars Butchery a family-owned company providing halal meat in Unity, ME. The project will involve fifteen farmers many of whom comprise “indigenous and other people of color, new farmers and a cooperative of Somali women.”
If the funds are applied in accordance with sound 
business principles the $65,000 rural business development grant will represent seed money. Future financing for this project should be provided by commercial lending institutions that will apply conventional criteria to establish the ability of the enterprise to service loans.
Would it be too much to expect that USDA will provide a subsequent accounting of the grant and progress of the proposed cooperative to achieve financial viability.