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MARBIDCO: A Go-To Source For Rural Business Development Financing Assistance

Maryland Agricultural & Resource Based-Industry Development Corporation

MARBIDCO and the State of Maryland provide Maryland agricultural urban and rural businesses with the resources they need to grow and remain sustainable in today's marketplace.

CLICK BELOW FOR NEW PROGRAMS AT MARBIDCO:

Maryland Value-Added Producer Matching Grant
(MVAPMG – USDA Option)

The USDA Value-Added Producer Grant Program, is offered annually and requires a non-federal financial matching commitment and each application for the MVAPMG must include a “verification of matching funds." To incentivize Maryland farmers to apply and to increase their competitiveness in the application process, MARBIDCO offers a grant of up to 15% of the USDA matching requirement. To be eligible to apply to MARBIDCO for funding, an applicant must also be eligible under the USDA VAPG Program, and funds will only be awarded to those who actually receive the USDA VAPG award. To apply to the USDA VAPG program, click here, and to read the definition of value added as defined by USDA, click here. Each applicant that has been approved to receive a MVAPMG will receive a letter for submission to USDA that contains how much matching funding will be available to the applicant.

Maximum Grant Amount: $11,250 for Planning Grants and $25,000 for Working Capital Grants. Electronic deadline is April 1, 2024, with paper/postmarked applications due March 29, 2024.

Maryland Oyster Shucking House Loan Fund

The Maryland Oyster Shucking House Loan Fund has been established by MARBIDCO to help finance the cost of eligible seafood processing projects, including those at historic oyster shucking houses and to facilitate an increase in the amount of oyster shells retained in the State and returned to the Chesapeake Bay. Loan amounts can range from a minimum of $25,000, up to a maximum of $250,000 (which is dependent upon the number of full-time jobs being created or retained – for each $25,000 in financing provided at least one full-time job must be created or retained).

Maryland Livestock Processing Loan Fund

The Maryland Livestock Processing Loan Fund has been established by MARBIDCO, as a complement to USDA’s Meat and Poultry Intermediary Lending Program opportunity, to assist with the expansion of livestock processing capacity in Maryland.  This program offers loans to eligible applicants to help start-up or expand small- and medium-sized USDA-inspected facilities in Maryland to increase the processing of meat, poultry and the invasive blue catfish. (Large meat and poultry processing companies are not eligible to participate in this program.)

Loan amounts can range from a minimum of $250,000 up to a maximum of $2,500,000. Loan proceeds can be used to purchase real estate, construct a new or expand an existing processing facility and purchase livestock processing equipment.  Priority may be given to the construction of new facilities, especially in underserved parts of Maryland.

MARBIDCO will also match the equity contribution of an approved applicant on a dollar-for-dollar basis up to 10% of the project costs, with the maximum equity grant award amount capped at $250,000,

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MARBIDCO is a quasi-public economic development organization chartered by the State of Maryland and headquartered in Annapolis. Its mission is to help Maryland's (typically small and family-owned) farm, forestry, and seafood businesses to prosper through the provision of targeted financial and other services that helps retain existing resource-based industry production and commerce, promote rural entrepreneurship, and nurture emerging or expanding agricultural enterprises.

MARBIDCO is committed to supporting the sustainability of the state's agricultural, forestry and seafood businesses, most of which are family-run enterprises, while at the same time helping to ensure the viability of the rural working landscape that Marylanders so greatly cherish. A safe and healthy local food supply, clean air and water, thriving rural communities, and productive pastoral scenic vistas are what we plan to help sustain for future generations.

At this time, MARBIDCO continues to work in a hybrid schedule. Our staff is ready to help you and are available by phone or email. Please be patient if you leave a voice mail message. We will return your calls.

What we Do

MARBIDCO’s vision is to ensure that the State of Maryland has thriving agricultural, forestry, and seafood industries. MARBIDCO plays an important role in helping Maryland’s food and fiber producers and processors to innovate and thrive both today and well into the future. MARBIDCO is nimble and flexible in providing targeted and specialized financing infrastructure that helps retain existing resource-based industry production and commerce, promote rural entrepreneurship, and nurtures emerging food, feed, and fiber businesses (including equine and horticulture).

MARBIDCO Values Statement

  • Accountability We are responsible for our actions and for adherence to our mission, and we ensure that this responsibility is ingrained throughout the organization. We measure our activities and report our outcomes to our stakeholders.
  • Collaboration We build trust and credibility across the organization as well as with policymakers and people across the commercial business sectors that we serve. We are transparent in the exchange of ideas and our encouragement of one another. We value teamwork in our pursuit of supporting innovation and organizational excellence.
  • Integrity We provide the best quality service to our stakeholders and strive to exceed expectations when possible. We act with the highest regard for moral, ethical, and inclusionary standards. We stand by what we say and what we do, and we always act in an honest and open way. We do the right thing.
  • Respect We uphold a culture of respect at work and within the community of our stakeholders. We embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion while also valuing our employees for their individuality and the unique perspectives that they bring to the organization. We recognize excellence in performance when we can.
  • Stewardship We take seriously our responsibility to manage scarce resources and to serve as stewards of public and private sector funds. We value our ability to serve our customers in a courteous, efficient and fiscally responsible manner. We encourage and empower MARBIDCO team members to act in accordance with our culture.

What MARBIDCO Offers:

  • Low and moderate cost loan programs for farmers, watermen, seafood processing and wood processing businesses
  • Partnership arrangements with commercial lenders to help maximize rural lending opportunities
  • Beginning Farmer land access financing leading to productive agricultural land being permanently preserved
  • Targeted specialty incentive grants for local farm food aggregation and certain farm and resource-based businesses
  • Agricultural and rural business information and referral

Our Impact

  • MARBIDCO has funded more than 1,283 farm and rural business projects - with over $101,619,505 million in direct financing - in every county in Maryland.
  • MARBIDCO has assisted 646 young and beginning farmers, (many with helping to purchase their first farms).
  • MARBIDCO has supported the implementation of 389 on-farm value added processing projects.
  • MARBIDCO has financed 481 projects of $79.4 million through its revolving loan fund programs.
  • MARBIDCO has over $215.9 million in commercial and private lender money leveraged in our Maryland Resource-Based Industry Financing Fund (MRBIFF) program (with a 3.21 -to-1 leverage ratio of commercial and private financing).
  • MARBIDCO has helped the State of Maryland and its county governments to preserve rural working land through bond finance programs.

Success Stories

  • Here are some of our Success Stories for an indepth look at the benefits of our programs.

What Are People Saying About MARBIDCO

As a young farmer with no collateral or credit history to purchase such a big investment, it is hard to get started in the ag business. MARBIDCO and MidAtlantic Farm Credit have allowed us to establish a future for our family business. Since purchasing our farm, we have been steadily improving our operation.”

– Ryan Rhodes, Poultry Farmer
Queen Anne’s County, MD

My personal experience is that MARBIDCO is the most user-friendly credit resource in today’s market, from both the lender and customer perspective. That fact, coupled with tremendous staff responsiveness and support, would draw me to MARBIDCO whenever a potential agricultural scenario was present in a proposed financing project.”

– Richard Van Gelder
Vice President, Provident State Bank
Salisbury, MD