Crosshatch Center for Art and Ecology and Oryana Community Co-Op have announced the 2025 recipients for their Microloan program, which offers zero interest loans to local farms and food businesses.
This year’s recipients are Open Air Farms in Cedar and Carter’s Compost in Traverse City.
Open Air Farms produces a wide variety of vegetables and flowers which are sold within the region at farmers markets, retail stores, and through their CSA. They received a microloan of $7,000 to upgrade and expand their wash/pack facility, where produce is prepared for sale after being harvested in the field.
“This expansion will ensure we can consistently provide the quality products our customers want and strengthen our presence in the market,” Open Air Farms owner Jasmine Hairston said in a press release.
Carter’s Compost, originally started by Carter Schmidt at age 8, has grown quickly in recent years from collecting 6,000 pounds of food waste in 2022 to collecting 25,000 pounds in 2024. Food waste is composted and the finished compost is returned to participants. Their projections expect these numbers to continue rapidly increasing in the coming years.
Carter’s Compost owner, Megan Alexander, shares, “to date, we have relied on old and free infrastructure, specifically our collection buckets and lids.” Their $3,000 microloan will be used to purchase updated buckets that will significantly streamline this valuable service for our community.
The Microloan program is so impactful because it provides funding to businesses that can’t easily access more traditional forms of business funding. The project is funded by Oryana Community Co-Op and managed by Crosshatch Center for Art and Ecology. Crosshatch also manages similar microloan programs with Grain Train Natural Foods Market in Petoskey and the Kalkaska Economic Development Corporation.
