Transportation and Marketing

Federal State Marketing Improvement Program

Fiscal Year 2023 Description of Funded Projects

Number of Grants Awarded: 5

Amount of Funds Awarded: $1,095,345.00

For more information, please visit the grant program's website: https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/grants/fsmip.

NOTE: The below project descriptions were provided by the grant recipients.

Florida

Recipient: University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

Project Type: Market Development

Award Amount: $239,544.00

Match Amount: $241,416.00

Total Project Amount: $480,960.00

Enhancing the Local, National and International Reach of Florida Agricultural Products: Analyzing the 

Determinants of Consumer Preferences for the Fresh from Florida Program 

The Fresh from Florida (FFF) program plays a critical role in informing consumers of the value of Florida-grown 

products and enhancing the competitive advantage of Florida agriculture. With joint efforts from the University of 

Florida and Florida Gulf Coast University, we aim to expand the market for Florida’s agricultural products by analyzing 

the determinants of consumer preferences for the FFF program at the local, national, and international levels. To 

achieve this goal, we propose to address four objectives: (1) measure psychological and behavioral factors 

influencing in-state consumers’ preferences for FFF-labeled food products; (2) estimate and compare consumers’ 

willingness to pay for FFF-labeled products across different regions of the U.S. (Florida and Northeastern Region) and 

Canada (Eastern provinces and territories); (3) assess the effectiveness of marketing communication scenarios in 

motivating the purchase decision of the FFF-labeled products; (4) develop and disseminate outreach materials, 

highlighting benefits of FFF program participation to Florida producers and agribusinesses. We intend to use different 

approaches, including focus groups, online consumer choice surveys, and non-hypothetical experiments involving 

neurobehavioral measures (e.g., electrical brain activity and eye movement). Apart from academic publications, a key 

deliverable is a 3-part webinar disseminating our research findings, providing targeted marketing recommendations, 

and assessing attendees’ level of understanding of, and interest in, enrolling in the FFF program. Our research will 

inform the development of strategic marketing plans that better align with consumer preferences and improve the 

overall growth and sustainability of Florida’s economy by supporting local businesses and enhancing the state’s 

economic competitiveness.
Mississippi

Recipient: University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS

Project Type: Market Development

Award Amount: $249,854.00

Match Amount: $250,055.00

Total Project Amount: $499,090.00

Decision Support Tools for Building a Sustainable Timber Market in Mississippi 

This research will develop two decision support tools that Mississippi timber market stakeholders can use to assist 

their decision-making. It will collect secondary data and conduct interviews with sawmills and logging companies to 

create Mississippi's timber demand and supply profiles. Second, it will develop a mathematical programming model 

and a solution algorithm for the timber resource allocation problem. Sawmills can use the model to optimize their 

timber purchase decisions by considering several critical factors, including resource availability, transportation cost, 

and timber competition among sawmills. The model can also be used to evaluate if the timber resource is sustainable 

in the long term. Third, it will develop a hybrid simulation model comprising a discrete event simulation and an

agent-based simulation for the timber distribution network in Mississippi. Sawmills, logging companies, and trucking 

firms can use the simulation model to test numerous what-if scenarios. These scenarios include 1) measuring the 

impact of sharing real-time truck waiting times at sawmills on truck driver and logging company dispatcher's 

behavior, 2) investigating the value of coordinated timber delivery scheduling on supply chain stakeholders, and 3) 

evaluating the utility of timber storage facilities in reducing the transportation cost and timber truck empty haul 

distance and 4) working with collaborators to conduct experiments using the proposed models and disseminate the 

results to stakeholders in Mississippi.

Rhode Island

Recipient: Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, Providence, RI

Project Type: Market Development

Award Amount: $185,600.00

Match Amount: $187,406.00

Total Project Amount: $373,006.00

Market Research, Promotion and Brand Adoption to Improve Economic Impact of Rhode Island Food Brands 

to Local and Regional Markets 

This proposed project would strengthen these programs by studying the economic impact of two Rhode Island local 

food marketing programs and researching the best marketing methods to increase brand awareness and member 

participation. This will be accomplished through the following objectives: 1) Determine the brand awareness and 

economic impact of state locally grown programs “RI Grown” and “RI Seafood” to increase membership and revenue 

for producers and food businesses. 2) Research and test targeted marketing and promotion strategies to determine 

ideal target market(s) for increasing brand loyalty and local food consumption. 3) Disseminate findings and marketing 

resources to members and food business partners to increase the overall impact of RI Grown and RI Seafood.
Tennessee

Recipient: University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN

Project Type: Market Development

Award Amount: $241,138.00

Match Amount: $241,138.00

Total Project Amount: $482,276.00

Developing a Successful Marketing Channel for Rural Wineries in Tennessee 

The overall goal of this project is to evaluate the feasibility of improving market access for wineries through increased 

effectiveness of social media advertising. Specifically, this project will include surveys combined with eye-tracking 

technology to examine how social media could be used to better promote Tennessee wine and winery tourism to 

consumers. This project will also educate Tennessee wineries on how to utilize social media communications with 

potential customers and how to use market information from social media to develop a targeted marketing base. 

This project will conduct economic research to help clarify marketing barriers for wineries and provide marketing 

opportunities to help wineries successfully market their products and venues to consumers. Results of this project 

are applicable for not only wineries throughout Tennessee, but for wineries throughout the United States, 

particularly those in emerging wine production areas.

Vermont

Recipient: Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets, Montpelier, VT

Project Type: Market Development

Award Amount: $179,209.00

Match Amount: $179,411.00

Total Project Amount: $358,620.00

Market Development through Agritourism 

This project takes a comprehensive approach to elevate the state of the agritourism sector in Vermont. Agritourism is 

a promising agricultural sub-sector encompassing on-farm product sales, hospitality, education, entertainment, and 

outdoor recreation. Creating these authentic on-farm experiences for the public spurs rural economic development, 

connects communities to local farms and access to local food, improves agricultural literacy among consumers, 

makes sure our state’s open land remains in productive agricultural use, helps farms be profitable and resilient, and 

draws tourists to the state. Interest in agritourism is growing around the world, but Vermont producers need support 

to effectively market their agritourism offerings to the public. This proposal supports the growth of agritourism in 

Vermont by developing state-wide agritourism branding guidelines, supporting agritourism operators to better 

market their offerings, improving and optimizing the state’s consumer-facing agritourism hub, and marketing 

Vermont’s agritourism opportunities to in-state and out-of-state consumers. VAAFM will partner with Vermont Fresh 

Network, Vermont Department of Tourism, and others to support the growth of this sector and drive more 

consumers to engage in authentic farm and food experiences in Vermont.