Local Group Gets Ag Marketing Grant

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded $45,000 to Spokane-based Washington Specialty Foods Association to develop new markets for members’ products.

In announcing the federal grant, the state Department of Agriculture said that the association in January will sponsor the Pacific Northwest’s first forum to promote specialty foods. The forum will be held at the Spokane’s Ag Expo and Pacific Northwest Farm Forum.

Other projects under the grant include creation of a regional database of specialty food producers and buyers, and publishing a guide for selling specialty foods on the Internet.

The award was one of 18 given nationwide through the USDA’s state marketing improvement program. The specialty foods association, which represents 700 companies statewide, will match the federal grant.

For information, call Laura Mathisen, executive director of the association, at 326-7627. , DataTimes