Hillsboro company awarded grant

A Hillsboro, N.D., seed company has been awarded a $55,000 grant to study a potential value-added bean and grain facility.

Red River Valley Seed Co. is one of seven agricultural firms that will receive grants totaling $193,000 from the North Dakota Agricultural Products Utilization Commission, which approved the funding at its quarterly meeting in Bismarck.

The company, which was incorporated in 1999, has two storage and processing facilities, one in downtown Hillsboro, the other just west of Interstate 29 outside of the Traill County community.

Other funding requests that were approved:

n North American Bison Cooperative, Fargo — $40,000 for a promotional campaign to market the benefits of an all-natural product available from North American Bison Cooperative and North Dakota Natural Beef.

n Marketplace of Ideas/Marketplace for Kids, Inc., Bismarck — $15,000 to help provide education, support, mentorship, solutions and networking opportunities to new and existing entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial communities.

n Dakota Cooperative Association, Mandan — $12,000 to study the assessment of operating a retail outlet and marketing and distribution center for Pride of Dakota members.

n Brookins Hybrid Drive Systems, LLC, West Fargo — $26,000 for prototype development on a hydraulic hybrid drive system with a variable speed transmission that reduces fuel usage in tractors, farm trucks, combines and buses.

n Carrington Job Development Authority, Carrington — $30,000 to conduct a feasibility study to market a new commodity of feeds developed from combinations of co-product ingredients.

n Williston Area Development Foundation, Williston — $15,000 for an upcoming event focused on attracting value-added agriculture processors and related industries to the Mon-Dak region.

APUC is a program of the North Dakota Department of Commerce that administers grant programs for researching and developing new and expanded uses for North Dakota agricultural products. The grants can be used for basic and applied research, marketing and cooperative utilization, farm diversification, nature-based agri-tourism, technology, agricultural prototype and technical assistance.

APUC will hold its next grant application hearing May 20-21 in Minot.

Applications for the May meeting must be received by April 1. Prototype and technical assistance applications must be received by March 1.

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