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The North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission is accepting applications for the 2022 grant cycle. Successful projects will meet the key objectives for 2022: create positive impacts for rural communities, stimulate economic development and support the agricultural industry. Funds will be awarded in the fall of 2022 for selected innovative projects.

“Projects that support farmers in current or former tobacco-dependent regions through education, research or infrastructure are priorities in 2022”, said William H. “Bill” Teague, NCTTFC Chairman. Applications will be accepted online for projects within North Carolina.

The grant guidelines and the application are now available online at www.tobaccotrustfund.org. Selected projects should expect to start in November of 2022.

The NCTTFC was established in 2000 by the N.C. General Assembly to help members of the tobacco community including farmers, tobacco workers and related businesses. Its original funding was established through tobacco industry annual payments as a result of the Master Settlement Agreement. Funding is now appropriated to the NCTTFC which then reviews, selects, and disperses the funds to grant projects.

Past NCTTFC projects includes agriculture fairs and farmers market improvements, cost-share grant programs for farmers, commodity marketing, researching alternative crops, and support of agricultural education programs.

More information can be found at the NCTTFC’s website http://tobaccotrustfund.org, or by calling Jeff Camden at 919-733-2160. The deadline for applications submission is Friday March 4, 2022.