US (IL): Woodstock grower selected for $10,000 grant for greenhouse curtain
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that Kolze’s Corner Gardens, 12717 Route 176, Woodstock, was selected to receive a $10,000 grant for the curtain as part of the USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program.
“When they have those programs like that, it made me go, ‘Yeah there’s somebody kind of backing you up and that’s interested in helping families preserve their business,” Kolze said.
Kolze said he is still in the final steps of receiving the funding, and when he installed the curtain in February, he thought it would be a bonus if the government rewarded him for all the energy he saved.
“It was very frustrating and very challenging,” Kolze said of the grant application process.… But looking back, I got a handle on so many things that we were doing inefficiently.”
The retractable $40,000 curtain covers a 23,000-square-foot greenhouse.
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