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AFPIFF advisory board reviews draft organizational plan, sets June 17 adoption vote and fall RFA timeline
Summary
At its May 27 meeting the AFPIFF advisory board reviewed a draft organizational plan that clarifies board duties and DACF administrative roles, set a June 17 vote to adopt the plan and scheduled an August 26 session to finalize an RFA for a fall grant window.
The Agriculture, Food Systems and Forest Products Infrastructure Investment Fund advisory board reviewed a draft organizational plan and agreed on a timetable for board adoption and a first round of awards at a meeting on May 27.
Coordinator Lily Kenny, who drafted the plan with input from the board and agency staff, told members the plan crosswalks AFPIFF’s statutory language with governance practices from similar programs. "I will ask for as much as possible to get those before June 17th because on June 17th, we'll review any final revisions to the plan and we'll look at board adoption," she said.
The presentation laid out a division of labor in which the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) will handle RFA design, eligibility and technical review, and administrative functions while the board will provide strategic direction and make final funding decisions in public meetings. DACF staff described an application "workbook" for board review and confirmed that board voting must occur in public, with limited executive sessions to review proprietary business information.
On funding, the board agreed to proceed toward a targeted grant round that, for the initial tranche, will use $500,000 and likely cap individual awards at about $50,000 pending final RFA language. Kenny said the RFA timeline under discussion would open in September with a longer application window through late October and a board review and vote window in November–December.
Board members also discussed operational details the organizational plan will need to lock down before adoption: anonymizing applicant packets before board review, a rubric for scoring, conflict-of-interest disclosure and recusal protocols, and mechanisms for evolving the plan as the fund gains experience.
Next steps: the board asked members to submit written feedback ahead of a June 17 meeting at which it will consider and vote on a revised organizational plan. The board also scheduled an August 26 session to refine RFA priorities and evaluation criteria ahead of a fall application round.
