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Janaury 2017 WINES&VINES 163 WINE EAST WINE INDUSTRY NEWS C anandaigua, N.Y.—U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Nov. 15 that more than 70 U.S. agricultural organizations would be receiving $200 million from the Market Ac- cess Program and the Foreign Mar- ket Development Program, both of which are run by the U.S. Depart- ment of Agriculture's Foreign Ag- ricultural Service. The New York Wine & Grape Foundation (NYWGF) received $461,932 in 2017 under the Mar- ket Access Program. According to Susan Spence, vice president of the NYWGF and coordinator of the foundation's export promotion program, the foundation uses the funds to increase awareness of New York as a wine-producing region. Spence stated, "We do this by 1) creating and producing edu- cational materials regarding the New York wine industry—intro- ducing readers to the regions and grape varieties of New York; 2) bringing wine media and buy- ers here to visit the wine regions and wineries; and 3) conducting educational seminars for trade and media in the target market." She explained that the 2017 grant won't go into use until July 1, 2017, because the foundation's program year is from July 1 to June 30. Funds from 2016 have been or will be used for activities in Canada, Japan, Hong Kong and several countries in Europe in- cluding Belgium, France, Ger- many and the United Kingdom, and possibly to help wineries with sales in Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. Other potential mar- kets are China, the Bahamas, Bra- zil and Bermuda. Value-Added Producer Grants The USDA's Value-Added Producer Grants were announced in late Oc- tober. More than $45.6 million was awarded to 325 projects for 2017; included in that number are grants totaling $5,592,699 for 34 winer- ies in 15 states east of the Rockies. The maximum amount for working capital grants was $250,000, and 14 wineries got that full amount. In addition, up to $75,000 was available for planning grants. The wineries receiving the full amount ($250,000) included Ni- agara Landing Wine Cellars, Lock- port, N.Y.; Thousand Islands Winery, Alexandria Bay, N.Y.; Viz- carra Family Vineyards, Gasport, N.Y.; Chautauqua Vineyards & Winery, Defuniak Springs, Fla.; Ricker Hill Orchards, Turner, Maine; Rappahannock Cellars, Huntly, Va.; Marceline Vineyards, Mt. Crawford, Va.; Stanburn Win- ery, Stuart, Va.; Upper Shirley Vine- yards, Charles City, Va.; Yonah Mountain Vineyards, Cleveland, Ga.; Petoskey Farms Vineyard & Winery, Petoskey, Mich.; Grovedale Winery and Vineyard, Wyalusing, Pa.; Stony Run Winery, Kempton, Pa., and the Appalachian Region Wine Producers Association lo- cated in Maynardville, Tenn. "These grants provide a much- needed source of financing to help producers develop new product lines, increase their income and keep that income in their com- munities," Vilsack stated. —Linda Jones McKee USDA Awards Grants to 34 Eastern Wineries Create a classic with our new 8 color UV custom glass printing technology. With the best bottle and closure brands on the market, our printed glass experts will work with you to launch your next best seller. Contact Waterloo Container today. Go ahead… judge a book by its cover. Toll Free: 888-539-3922 | waterloocontainer.com Niagara Landing Wine Cellars in Lockport, N.Y., was awarded a $250,000 grant to promote its line of light and sweet Rosebud wines.