More than $21 million in federal funding for 14 agriculture-related businesses and initiatives in Alberta was announced July 3 at Olds College.
Dan Vandal, the minister for Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan) made the announcement before about 75 people gathered in a garage of the Olds College of Agriculture & Technology’s Smart Farm Operations Centre.
RJ Sigurdson, minister of Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation, welcomed the announcement.
Several representatives of those receiving money took to the mic to outline how their share of the cash will help their operations.
The money was doled out via several different programs.
For example, seven businesses or institutions are splitting $8.5 million provided under the Regional Innovation Ecosystems program.
Olds College received $3,017,720 to expand its Smart Farm operations into Saskatchewan and increase its ability to research agricultural challenges faced on the Prairies.
It also received $2,378,900 to help agriculture-focused start-ups get going with help from THRIVE Canada.
The money also helped upgrade facilities to provide space for small and medium-sized ag businesses to showcase their innovations.
The Stettler Adult Learning Council received $250,000 to establish a regenerative agriculture lab to help Alberta food producers explore and adopt regenerative ag practices.
The University of Alberta got $250,000 to buy and optimize a device that will determine the best practices leading to the creation of Canadian-made environmentally-friendly cellulose/hemp-based products.
The Alberta Bioprocessing Innovation Centre and Alberta Agrivalue Processing Business Incubator, based in Edmonton, is receiving $1,125,000 to buy and install new equipment in two provincially-operated facilities to enable small and medium-sized businesses to test and commercialize value-added agricultural products.
The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) is getting $1,038,538 to help those in the plant protein industry reduce food waste by converting starch byproducts into high-value sugars that can be used by biofuel and food manufacturers.
A federal government news release says Venturepark Labs, which operates out of Calgary and Toronto, is receiving $523,064 to host “a new annual industry event” and create a national online member-based program to help food and natural product businesses in their infancy grow and develop.
A total of $9.8 million is being provided to three recipients through the Jobs and Growth Fund.
BiziSul Inc., a sulphur-based fertilizer products company in Blackfalds, is getting $2,590,000 to set up a new manufacturing plant in central Alberta converting waste sulphur from oil and gas operations into a high-grade fertilizer.
Pure Life Carbon, based in Red Deer County, is getting $2,071,828 to upgrade an existing manufacturing plant to increase production of its soil alternative products.
PIP Lethbridge Inc. is receiving $5,215,685 to buy equipment, recruit staff and increase manufacturing capability to better meet demand for its plant-based protein products.
The Community Economic Development and Diversification program is dishing out a total of $446,800 to the Alexander Business Corporation and the North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance.
The Alexander Business Corporation will use its share of that money ($146,800) to assess the feasibility of two plant-based protein opportunities for the Alexander First Nation.
The North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance is getting $300,000 to collaborate with stakeholders to develop a water management model for the North Saskatchewan River.
G.S. Dunn Ltd., which has a milling facility in Bow Island, is receiving $2,469,236 under the Business Scale-Up and Productivity program.
Also, $458,344 is going to Wyvern Incorporated of Edmonton under the Aerospace Regional Recovery Initiative to help them launch a new satellite system and network to cut farming costs, make those operations more efficient and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water use.