InCommon Group presents funding‑landscape scan and technical‑assistance gaps; board agrees to June in‑person session

Maisha Ali, partner and co‑founder of InCommon Group, told the advisory board that an existing‑resources scan and interim stakeholder assessment found many funding programs for Maine agriculture and food businesses but identified gaps in types of capital and technical assistance.

Ali said the scan identified 105 distinct funding entities and 145 funding programs across federal, state and private sources at the time the research was completed (early February 2025). The majority of identified programs were grants, followed by loan programs; fewer equity, tax‑credit and targeted impact instruments were cataloged. Ali cautioned the board that the scan represents a snapshot and that some programs listed in the spreadsheet had since been reduced or discontinued.

Key gaps flagged in the presentation included: fewer funding options for pre‑venture and startup businesses compared with later‑stage firms; comparatively fewer programs for value‑added processing and distribution than for production; limited availability of long‑term, in‑depth one‑to‑one technical assistance; and persistent barriers to accessing existing capital for certain groups (for example, tribal producers, New Americans and small sole proprietors).

Ali said the project team is following a five‑phase process: existing‑resources and benchmarks, stakeholder assessment (currently underway), targeted interviews, surveys of technical assistance providers and businesses, and a final evaluation‑metrics framework and recommendations. The benchmark study comparing other states (Massachusetts, Michigan and Vermont) was nearly complete, she said, and would be shared with the advisory board in coming weeks.

Participants discussed specific policy and program design implications. Board member Matt Chin asked whether applicants who lack grant writing experience are underrepresented; Ali said that concern was reflected in stakeholder interviews and that the team will probe it further with targeted interviews and surveys. Claire Hawkins (DACF) and others noted that shared infrastructure remains a frequently proposed approach but carries trade‑offs between owners’ desire for independence and community desire for shared access and activation of assets.

Eric DeLuca of Leverage Point Consulting, who led benchmarking work with the project team, recommended considering the role of technical assistance and possible revolving loan or bridge financing to improve access. He described a common pattern observed in other states: applicants with weak initial proposals can be routed to business‑planning TA, submit stronger applications later and thereby create a long‑term pipeline for capital allocation.

Ali provided a categorical breakout of technical assistance: business and financial planning TA was the most common service; land access, transfers and succession planning and long‑term production operations assistance were less common. She noted that most TA identified in the scan came from nonprofit providers and that the scan did not comprehensively include fee‑for‑service providers.

On logistics and next steps, staff proposed modest changes to meeting cadence and format. The chair outlined a proposal to extend standard advisory board Zoom meetings from 90 minutes to two hours and to hold a longer in‑person session in June in Augusta (with a Zoom option). Board members discussed constraints and preferred start times; some members indicated scheduling conflicts for certain dates. The group did not record a formal vote but generally agreed to pursue the June in‑person meeting and to allow working groups to set their own meeting schedules outside the full board cadence.

Why this matters: the scans and interviews will feed recommendations on allowable uses, targeted outreach and the balance of grant versus loan or bridge financing; they will also guide technical‑assistance investments to broaden access and improve application quality.

Ending: Ali and the consulting team will circulate the existing‑resources spreadsheet and the benchmarking report, continue interviews and surveys, and present a draft evaluation‑metrics framework and funding recommendations at upcoming meetings. Erica Campbell (InCommon Group lead for finance analysis) was expected to join the meeting later to answer questions about capital tools.