CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Bellair Farms in Albemarle County and Furniture By Design in Orange County are two of the 14 Virginia food and farming businesses to receive state grants, Gov. Abigail Spanberger announced this week.

Bellair Farms, an historic 900-acre farm 10 miles south of Charlottesville, will receive $11,000 for a cold link collaborative, funds that will be used to purchase a refrigerated box truck to aide with delivery of the products from the farm. Albemarle County will match those funds, contributing another $11,000, spokesperson Abbey Stumpf told Cville Right Now.

“They’re really looking for multi-business collaborations, infrastructure that supports the food system as a whole,” Bellair Farm Manager Michelle McKenzie told Cville Right Now on Wednesday. “I really felt we had a good pitch.”

The new truck will help the farm’s partnership with Stock Provisions, a Charlottesville butcher shop, and Honest Meats, a meat processing company in Harrisonburg.

McKenzie said the farm worked with members of the Albemarle County Economic Development Office, including Business Development Manager Ashley Perry Hernandorena, to submit the grant application. She praised the county’s support in the application process.

McKenzie estimated the truck will cost anywhere from $40,000-60,000. Any costs above the $22,000 in government funding will be covered by the farm.

McKenzie said she is waiting on the next steps but believes a used refrigerated truck can be purchased quickly, and she noted the farm’s own mechanic will be invaluable in maintaining the truck.

Bellair Farms currently has about 650 households as members in its Community Supported Agriculture program. It also has a farm store and sells products at area farmer’s markets. The farm, owned by Cynthia K. Davis, has 400 acres of pasture where it raises chickens, hens, pigs and cows, and 23 acres of land for vegetable farming.

It has been paying a third-party for delivery, but the grant will change that, as well as enhance the farm’s ability to sell whole and half pigs.

“We are starting to be the one stop shop for all things local in Albermarle County,” McKenzie said. “When we’re going to markets, it’s going to help keep products fresher and colder.”

Furniture By Design will receive $25,000 for a new kiln and the construction of lumber storage buildings, an expansion that will allow local producers and small businesses to dry their own lumber, according to the release.

In all, businesses in 14 localities received a total of $507,000 in grant funding from Virginia. The infrastructure grants come from the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund.

“The success of Virginia agriculture depends on the ability of all farmers across the Commonwealth to succeed,” Gov. Spanberger said in a statement. “These infrastructure grants are extremely beneficial for the state’s small and mid-size farms, helping to bridge the gap between farmers and consumers. Modernizing local food supply infrastructure is a win-win for Virginia — it supports local agriculture and strengthens communities with improved access to fresh, locally grown food.”