The MARBIDCO Board of Directors have approved the offering of several targeted low-interest loan and grant programs that are designed to take full advantage of the Corporation's nimble and strategic capability to leverage affordable rural business financing, assist with alternative or value-added enterprise development, and support the next generation of producers. Because the demand for assistance is expected to exceed available funding in the early years, the Corporation plans to focus its modest resources on assisting "innovative" business enterprises and start-up operations which tend to have a level of risk exposure that commercial lenders find unacceptable without third-party participation or mitigation. This is where the MARBIDCO programs can be of tangible benefit to rural entrepreneurs and commercial lenders alike.

Examples of innovative business activities and enterprises include on-farm and value-added food processing, niche product development and marketing, smaller scale secondary wood products manufacturing, and business-related technology enhancements (especially those related to energy efficiency). The Corporation's aim is to help agricultural and resource-based businesses to innovate, diversify and exploit emerging market opportunities in food and fiber production and in rural tourism and recreation.

MARBIDCO rural business development and financing programs that are underway are listed at the right.

All requests for loans and business planning assistance will be made on a competitive basis. A Loan Review Committee made up of individuals with experience in agricultural lending, rural development, and agriculture and resource-based business will make the approval decisions based on factors that will include the economic development significance of the innovative enterprise to be financed, the potential economic viability of the enterprise relative to the resources that are available.