Operating Loans (Direct and Guaranteed)

Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP) is a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency that funds cost share assistance for producers and handlers seeking or renewing organic certification under the National Organic Program (NOP). Eligible applicants include any certified organic producers or handlers who have paid certification fees to a USDA-accredited certifying agent. The program covers expenses such as application fees, inspection costs, equivalency agreement fees, inspector travel, user fees, and postage. Awards provide up to 75 percent of certification costs, not to exceed per certification scope (crops, wild crops, livestock, processing/handling). The 2024 application deadline was October 31, 2024.

Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP) is sponsored by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA). Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP) is a grant from the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency that funds cost share assistance for producers and handlers seeking or renewing organic certification under the National Organic Program (NOP).

NC Biotech Small Business Research Loan-to-Grant Program is sponsored by North Carolina Biotechnology Center. Offers low-interest loans that convert to grants upon achieving in-state growth milestones, supporting early-stage life science R&D in North Carolina. The program supports research and development activities that advance commercially viable technologies and products, and business development activities intended to help the company position itself for investor funding or partnering opportunities. Strain engineering would fall under 'life sciences research, development, or manufacturing to develop a product or technology with commercial potential'.

This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) announces up to $10 million to support a National Fund Manager (NFM) to design and manage a Lead-Safe and Healthy Homes Financing Demonstration (the Fund). The Fund will be a national platform to pool public and private capital to accelerate the reduction of residential lead exposure, particularly childhood lead poisoning, and improve housing-related health conditions in low-income communities ("lead-safe and healthy homes activities").While HUD and EPA programs have addressed lead and other environmental hazards in many homes, progress remains slow relative to the scale of need. For example, since 1993, HUD has remediated lead hazards in over 230,000 low-income housing units, but tens of millions of U.S. households continue to face risk from lead and additional residential environmental stressors. Expanding access to private capital alongside public funding is critical to increasing the pace and scale of remediation.Traditional home repair financing remains difficult to access due to strict underwriting, high denial rates, and lender risk concerns, leaving many older homes in disrepair. The Fund will build upon successful local models that combine public and private resources and expand this approach nationally by aggregating capital and supporting local financing programs.The NFM will be responsible for leveraging the initial $10 million in public funds to raise private capital investments, structuring financing mechanisms, and providing technical assistance to support the Fund's operations. The NFM will also be responsible for the distribution of the funds through eligible activities by using no more than $1 million of the federal award for administrative activities, while deploying the remaining capital through loans, grants, and other financial products that flow to state, regional, and local governments and nonprofit organizations selected by the NFM. The NFM will select and enter into agreements with organizations, which will in turn provide financing for conducting lead-safe and healthy homes activities in homes of low-income homeowners and homes owned by small landlords, in low-income communities. HUD will maintain oversight through review of Fund structure, performance, and compliance rather than by participating in investment selection decisions.The organizations selected for funding by the NFM will ensure that the financing conditions require use of appropriately qualified contractors, laboratories, and financial entities in accordance with applicable Federal, state, and local requirements and this NOFO. The NFM will establish and oversee compliance, reporting, and quality assurance processes to ensure that lead-safe and healthy homes activities are performed and financed in accordance with program requirements. Funding Opportunity Number: LHC-2600-DC-0032. Assistance Listing: 14.922. Funding Instrument: CA. Category: HO. Award Amount: Up to $10M per award.