Eight local farms are getting a boost from Onondaga County to expand on their agritourism potential.
200 amp electrical service just wasn’t enough for the staff at Navarino Orchard to keep up with the needs of a growing business. They need new ovens, as well as more support for a restaurant, according to owner Vincent Sicignano.
"We couldn't add anything else," Sisignano said. "We were done."
Enter the Onondaga County Agritourism Grant program. Sicignano said a $15,000 grant will help him to upgrade the farm's electrical system.
"So we bumped it up to 400 amps and now we can, like I said, should last me the rest of my life, be able to grow as much as we want now," Sicignano said.
Navarino Orchard was one of eight farms that applied for and received up to $15,000 in the latest round of grants from the original fund. County Executive Ryan McMahon said local farms will match the county's investment, noting agritourism has become a vital part of the bottom line for central New York farms.
"Agritourism represents ways that these farms can diversify revenue and they can be innovative and they can create new job opportunities," McMahon said. "And they can stabilize the existing parts of their farms that, based off of current economic conditions at times, certainly are struggling."
