Keeseville farm grows with $14K zero-interest SOIL loan

KEESEVILLE | A flexible loan program designed to support North Country small farms is helping Mace Chasm Farm diversify and increase its offerings. The Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA), in partnership with Foodshed Capital, awarded the Keeseville farm a $14,000 zero-interest loan to help expand its tree nursery operations. The investment marks the sixth small farm project supported by the SOIL Loan Fund, which ANCA developed to address the challenges many North Country farms have accessing capital through conventional loan programs — particularly for farms operated by women and Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC). "Mace Chasm Farm's project is a great example of how we intend for the SOIL Loan program to work," said Jon Ignatowski, ANCA's Manager of Food Systems Business. "Mace Chasm used their loan to leverage grant funding, resulting in a transformational project for the Adirondack farm community. We are excited to support their efforts to bolster the agroforestry movement in our region." Known for its artisanal meat products, Mace Chasm Farm began its tree nursery program in 2022 in its continued efforts to diversify the farm's revenue sources. Their primary market for tree sales has been with a Maine nursery during the fall season. In 2024, Courtney Grimes-Sutton, who has owned and operated the Mace Chasm Farm since 2012, secured grant funding from the Lake Champlain Basin Program to install a climate-controlled storage facility for tree saplings. The cooler would allow the farm to extend tree sales into the spring season, market more trees locally, and store tree saplings for local farms and agroforestry projects. Mace Chasm's $14,000 SOIL Loan helped cover the costs of installing the extensive electrical upgrades needed to operate the new storage unit. "ANCA and Foodshed Capital are providing a loan fund that understands small agricultural businesses," said Grimes-Sutton. "Through the SOIL Loan program, we found financing at zero percent interest, which enabled us to move ahead with this major electrical infrastructure upgrade. This project will make a big difference for our tree storage operation for years to come." In addition to producing grafted tree nursery stock, Mace Chasm Farm grazes cattle, poultry and pigs on about 120 acres in Keeseville. They also market sausages, cuts, grinds, broths, smoked meats, salami, paté, and cooking fats produced at the farm's butcher shop. ANCA partnered with Foodshed Capital, a certified Community Development Financial Institution that centers mission-driven lending and customized business support for underserved farmers, to award a total of six loans for small farm projects in northern New York since the SOIL Loan Fund launched in 2022. Emily Tybur, Foodshed Capital's Director of Programs, said, "Foodshed Capital was proud to support Mace Chasm with the capital needed to support their tree nursery enterprise expansion. The project outcomes are a perfect confluence of our mission: increasing biodiversity and profitability on the farm, while supporting broader ecosystem and economic health. It was clear to our team that Mace Chasm's dedication to regeneration is an asset to the Adirondack region." Originally established with private donations and grants, ANCA's revolving loan fund has been able to offer flexible financing for new projects as participating farms make loan payments. Grants from Adirondack Bank, Adirondack Foundation's Generous Acts Fund, Cloudsplitter Foundation, the Glen and Carol Pearsall Adirondack Fund, Price Chopper's Golub Foundation and NBT Bank have supported the fund. "We are happy to see the Fund supporting this kind of forward-looking project," said ANCA Executive Director Elizabeth Cooper. "Mace Chasm Farm is an innovative operation that continually adopts practices that build resilience in the face of economic and environmental challenges. ANCA is glad to support their tree nursery work and their efforts to further diversify their farm business." Past SOIL Loans were awarded to Della Terra Farm in Castorland, N.Y., to develop a commercial composting operation; Donahue's Livestock Farms in North Bangor, N.Y. to renovate and purchase equipment for a specialty butcher shop in Malone, N.Y.; Reber Rock Farm in Essex, N.Y., to purchase a walk-in freezer that provides organizational space and storage for pastured meats; Tangleroot Farm in Essex, N.Y., to purchase a tractor; and Tucker's Black Angus Ranch in Brushton, N.Y., to purchase three retail freezers for marketing their sustainably produced meats. ANCA is an independent, nonprofit corporation with a transformational approach to building prosperity across northern New York. Using innovative strategies for food systems, clean energy, small businesses, and equity and inclusion, ANCA delivers targeted interventions that create and sustain wealth and value in local communities. Foodshed Capital is a certified Community Development Financial Institution dedicated to building more equitable, regenerative foodsheds through mission-driven lending and customized business support. FoodCap serves regenerative farmers and food entrepreneurs up and down the East Coast with a focus on BIPOC- and female-led operations.

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Keeseville farm grows with $14K zero-interest SOIL loan

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