All USA USA Territories: American Samoa (USA); Guam (USA); Puerto Rico (USA); Virgin Islands (USA); Northern Mariana Islands (USA); USA Compact Free Associations:The Federated States of Micronesia (USA) Marshall Islands (USA) Republic of Palau (USA) International, Israel and Canada.
Grants to USA, Canada, and International organizations, institutions, and individuals for professional development activities in the field of grain operations. Applicants are required to pre-qualify prior to submitting a full grant application. Funding areas of interest include grain quality, facility maintenance and design, general operations, risk management, and human resources.
For 2025, priority consideration will be given to projects that focus on:
Grain inventory management
Identify the importance of managing grain inventories
How to conduct a risk assessment on potential threats to the inventory
Identify methods to reduce or eliminate those threats
Elements of supervision for grain handling and processing facilities
Including, but not limited to, soft skills development in conflict resolution, performance management, time management, problem-solving skills, change management, implementing new technologies, etc.
Including, but not limited to, task management of things like accounting, insurance, capital projects, budgeting, preventive maintenance planning, etc.
Eligible project expenses/use of grant funds:
Direct expenses only, excluding “ineligible expenses,” to include:
Retaining project-specific subject-matter experts for content development
Retaining project-specific creative-service experts for program design and production
To be eligible for funding, projects must be complimentary to GEAPS’ professional development program with respect to one or more of these core competencies:
Grant Quality involving: Quality definition and determination; Quality preservation; Quality assurance and control; Grain preparation
Facility Maintenance and Design involving: Equipment operation and performance; Equipment and facility maintenance; Sanitation and pest control; Energy systems; Automation, process control and information technology; Facilities planning & design; Project analysis, planning & management
General Operations involving: Grain & ingredient receiving, handling, processing and shipping management; Transportation and logistics; Energy & utilities management; Material [non-grain] handling equipment/systems; Grain production & processing [Strategic Environment]; Financial management ; Marketing & customer relations; Merchandising/origination & Procurement/purchasing; Community/public relations/communications; Business ethics & trade practice law; Enterprise resource planning; Warehouse Control Systems; Warehouse Management System ; Equipment types, specifications, sizing and installation; Process flow, system analysis and optimization; Particle size reduction and segregation; Product packaging and load out
Human Resources involving: Employee recruitment, hiring and retention; Leadership, supervision and performance evaluation; Motivation, incentives, promotion and advancement; Compensation administration; Training & professional development; Psychology & sociology, and team building; Labor law & regulatory compliance; Benefits and compensation
English is to be the primary language of all components of the work product funded in whole or in part by the Foundation.
The target end-users of grant-supported projects are GEAPS members and prospective members and by extension, their employers. The highest priority is filling any identified gap in needed and currently available educational and training resources. Conversely, projects that would be considered redundant to or directly competitive with existing available resources would be considered ineligible for grant awards. Proposed programs/projects must be accessible to GEAPS members and non-members through GEAPS.
Grant funding is available to any organization, institution or individual who can demonstrate competence and capacity for developing and delivery of eligible projects responsive to the Foundation’s mission.
Ineligible
Ineligible project expense/use of grant funds:
Grant funds may not be used for general operational expenses beyond those explicitly permitted in the proposal.
In general, ineligible expenses include:
• The direct or indirect costs of hiring or retaining management or administrative support staff or services
• Except as otherwise defined in the first paragraph of this section, the cost of hiring or retaining other staff or services
• Compensation or awards which would be provided without regard to the outcome of this grant application, such as fellowship awards for tuition
• Equipment and facilities, including the acquisition, lease/rental, cost-allocation, or asset depreciation]
Pre-Application Information
This is a two-step process:
• Step One – Applicant and Project Prequalification: [due June 6, 2025]
• Step Two – Detailed Project Description: [due October 6, 2025]
• Stage Three - Grantee Agreement finalized within 60-days of receipt from Foundation.
English is to be the primary language of all components of the work product funded in whole or in part by the Foundation.
In general, the Foundation distributes grant funds as progress payments tied to milestones identified and agreed upon between the Foundation and the grantee. The Foundation requires that 20% of the award amount be withheld until the grantee has verified completion of work to the satisfaction of the grant agreement. The Foundation is not obligated to distribute the total grant-award upon approval of the grant and signature of the grantee agreement but may elect to do so if the grantee provides a compelling justification for a lump-sum payment in its application.
Before starting your grant application, please review
the funding source's website listed below for updates / changes / addendums /
conferences / LOIs.