About MARBIDCO
MARBIDCO’s Background
For many years, Maryland’s agricultural, forestry, and seafood industries were stagnant while at the same time, Maryland’s rural working landscapes also were disappearing.
To help remedy this situation, in 2004 the Governor and Maryland General Assembly through legislation established the Maryland Agricultural and Resource-Based Industry Development Corporation (MARBIDCO) as a quasi-governmental corporation broadly authorized to:
Develop agricultural industries and markets.
Support appropriate commercialization of agricultural processes and technology.
Assist with rural land preservation efforts; and
Alleviate the shortage of nontraditional capital and credit available at affordable interest rates for investment in agricultural and resource-based businesses.
Opening an office in 2007, MARBIDCO began its mission to enhance the sustainability and profitability of the State’s agricultural and resource-based industries. We serve to bolster agricultural economies, help enable the production of local food and fiber products, and preserve working farms and forest land throughout the State of Maryland.
A Source For Agricultural Business Development Financing Assistance
MARBIDCO is a nimble quasi-governmental organization that is an instrumentality of the State of Maryland, with a mission to serve the State's commercial farming, forestry, and seafood industries.
MARBIDCO assists qualifying businesses in securing affordable capital and credit for equipment, commercial facilities, and real estate purchases, often partnering with commercial lenders and state and local economic development and land conservation organizations.
MARBIDCO is committed to supporting the sustainability of the state's agricultural, forestry, and seafood industries, which are predominantly family-run enterprises, while also helping to ensure the viability of the rural working landscape that Marylanders cherish so greatly. 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.
What MARBIDCO Offers:
Low and moderate-cost agricultural loans and agribusiness loan programs for farmers, as well as loans for watermen, aquaculture, seafood processing, wood processing businesses, vineyard financing, and veterinarian loans.
Partnership arrangements with commercial lenders to help maximize rural lending opportunities
Beginning Farmer farmland access financing, leading to productive agricultural land being permanently preserved, including for young farmers and small farm financing
Targeted specialty incentive grants for local farm food aggregation and certain agribusinesses, farm, livestock, and resource-based businesses
MARBIDCO's experienced staff can consult with individuals and businesses to determine which programs are the best fit
MARBIDCO Programs & Services
In delivering its financing programs, MARBIDCO works cooperatively with commercial banks, Farm Credit Associations, the various USDA offices, and other federal, State, and local government agencies and land grant universities.
Developed with stakeholder input, MARBIDCO’s “Core” Loan and business development programs are designed to help fill an important rural development void uniquely. In addition to the Core Development Loan Programs, MARBIDCO also offers Specialty Loan Programs funded by other agencies. MARBIDCO is also authorized to assist with Rural Land Preservation.
MARBIDCO offers more than 20 targeted low and moderate-cost loan and grant incentive programs. A special focus of the Corporation is 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.
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, promotes rural entrepreneurship, and nurtures emerging food, feed, and fiber businesses including equine and horticulture.
MARBIDCO Value 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 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.
