Consolidates the completed FMLFPP research (Report #1732829) into seven executable sections so the FY27 NOFO window — expected opens ~May 2027 and typically ~30-day submission window — is executable on day one. Each row tracks an action, flags its current status, and links to the system or page that the work happens in.
Pre-NOFO scratchpad. All 7 sections currently Not Started. The federal grant-funds-management plan is to start every section now, finish well before the NOFO drops, and walk into May–June 2027 with submission capability gated only by the published application itself.
AMS FMPP applications gate on a Unique Entity ID (UEI) pulled from an Active SAM.gov registration. An expired or in-Progress registration is a silent disqualifier — the grants.gov submission portal will refuse the package before it reaches the reviewer. Verify UEI health today, not on the day the FY27 NOFO drops.
SAM.gov status must be Active on the day FMPP Submission is started AND on the day of award. Renewals happen once per ~12-month cycle after the initial registration; an out-of-cycle surprise expiration mid-grant-cycle is recoverable but slow. Pull the UEI from SAM.gov and verify it before drafting any Project Narrative language.
Reuse the working checklist on SAM.gov Registration Checklist — Section 1 of that page already establishes the logical prerequisites for a live UEI. This section's purpose is verification on the path to FMPP, not re-doing the registration.
UEI copied to the IronRoost grant-tracking spreadsheet, SAM.gov status = Active, registration expiration date cleared past July 31 2027. Anything ambiguous (status = Submitted or Expired) means the FMPP FY27 plan is held until the SAM record is back to Active. Treat SAM status as the gate the rest of this checklist unlocks.
A complete Grants.gov Applicant Profile with at least one Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) is the difference between eligibility (SAM.gov gives you) and submission capability (Grants.gov gives you). An incomplete profile presents as a successful login with no Submit button — the failure mode is silent until the deadline passes.
The Applicant Profile wizard at grants.gov/manage-applicant-profile pulls most fields from SAM.gov automatically (legal name, UEI, EIN, address) and adds Grants.gov-specific fields (Applicant Profile name, E-Biz POC, AOR list). Once the profile is saved, lock down at least one AOR and run the dry-run submission flow on a no-cost NOFO so you know the submit button works before the FMPP FY27 window opens.
AOR authority follows the E-Biz POC credentials. If Jean-Pierre is the sole AOR and is unavailable on the FY27 submission day — cell dead, internet outage, hospital, vacation — the entire package is unsendable. Adding a backup AOR (a board member, a co-signer, or an external associate with signature authority) is the single cheapest insurance against single-point-of-failure on the submit step. Recommended: one primary signing AOR plus one backup designated at the same E-Biz POC level.
FMPP awards scoring rewards projects with documented partner commitments. The Project Narrative needs signed letters of commitment from named partner organizations that clearly state: (a) what the partner will do, (b) what in-kind contribution they pledge, (c) the time window of the commitment relative to the project period. Anonymous or implied partner roles score poorly.
For IronRoost's FMPP FY27 plan the partner shortlist has three axes: controlled-environment-agriculture (CEA) operator partners for hydroponic grower network, foodservice distributors for downstream pull, and potentially community / extension partners for the Community Development Training project type. The commitment-letter template lives below — every letter should include a match-pledge dollar value (cash or in-kind) so Section 4 has documentation to draw from.
Most partner organizations need 2–4 weeks of internal review (legal counsel, board sign-off) before signing a commitment letter that mentions cost-share. Starting the shortlist now — not in May 2027 when the NOFO is in front of you — is the difference between FMPP submission on day one and a missed cycle. The FY27 window closes fast; partner-aspirational is not an asset in the Project Narrative.
Copy this structure into the partner org's letterhead. Keep it under one page; AMS reviewers scan quickly and anything over two pages loses attention.
FMPP cost-share reviewers audit the Project Narrative's match dollars against the commitment letters line by line. A letter that says "Partner supports IronRoost's mission" without a dollar value is decoration; a letter that says "Partner pledges $4,200 in greenhouse bench space valued at retail equivalent rate" is match documentation. Section 4 of this checklist cannot proceed until at least one signed letter carries a numerical match pledge.
AMS FMPP requires the applicant to commit at least 25% of the total project cost as match. The match can be cash (dollars on the IronRoost balance sheet) OR in-kind (documented contributions of goods, services, or facilities). In-kind must be substantiated with valuation methodology in the Project Narrative; vague "donated labor" without rate documentation is the most common match-disqualification in FMPP applications.
The FMPP FY27 application should be structured to make IronRoost's actual deployed capital count first (cash from the $2.5M seed deployment waterfall), then layer in-kind documentation for facility access, equipment, and labor. The mix should err toward documented — if the reviewer has to estimate valuation, the reviewer may undercount and the 25% gate fails. Cement every in-kind pledge in writing through Section 3 partner letters.
Eligible: cash on hand, partner-cash pledges, partner-in-kind (facility use, equipment, labor) with valuation paperwork, third-party grants that are unrestricted (not earmarked as match elsewhere), volunteer hours documented at a published rate. Ineligible: pre-existing staff salaries counted as match, costs already covered by another federal grant, depreciation on owned equipment, indirect overhead. Confirm each match line with the FMPP FY27 NOFO when it drops — ineligible categories can change year to year.
FMPP reviewers reject match where the valuation methodology is not spelled out. "Partner X provided $8K of greenhouse space" without a method is decoration. "Partner X provided greenhouse bench space valued at retail equivalent rate of $X/sq ft/month for Y sq ft over Z months = $8K" is match documentation. Build the valuation sentence into every commitment letter; reviewers read the methodology before they read the dollars.
AMS FMPP applications are scored against a Project Narrative that maps to one or more of three project types: Capacity Building, Community Development Training, and Turnkey Marketing & Promotion. The skeleton below reuses much of the FMPP-language adapted from the SCBGP 2027 Pre-Application Skeleton, with one card per project type so IronRoost can mix-and-match depending on the FY27 NOFO's emphasis.
Funds the pre-launch scaffolding for IronRoost's market position — donor/partner development, market analysis, business plan refinement, governance hardening. Use when the FY27 NOFO emphasizes institutional readiness over direct activity delivery.
Narrative scaffolding: Reuse SCBGP 2027 Skeleton §1 — the "Project Need & Background" structure maps cleanly onto FMPP Capacity Building deliverables. Replace VDACS-specific calls with USDA AMS FMPP language.
Funds training, technical assistance, and outreach to growers, food-system partners, and end users. Use when the FY27 NOFO rewards knowledge-transfer activity over direct production. Strong fit for the hydroponics grower-network branch IronRoost is building toward.
Supporting evidence lives on this site at: Hydroponics Launch Readiness (2026 grow-cycle plan and technical-assumption audit) + RRS Foodservice Outreach (buyer-side evidence of training impact).
Funds direct implementation of marketing & promotion activities for IronRoost producer / partner network. Use when the FY27 NOFO emphasizes direct execution of advertising, branding, retail-readiness, or promotional events that bring the product to the end consumer.
Narrative scaffolding: Reuse the Obj. II (Marketing and promotion) language in SCBGP 2027 Pre-Application Skeleton — that objective language maps directly onto FMPP Turnkey Marketing & Promotion deliverables.
The FY27 NOFO may allow the project to be classified under one dominant type OR operate as a hybrid (e.g., Capacity Building + Community Development Training). Read the FY27 NOFO carefully when it drops — classification determines which scoring rubric the reviewers apply. Turnkey Marketing & Promotion typically scores fastest for projects with concrete buyer-side evidence (RRS outreach, retail-readiness pilots); Community Development Training scores well when partner-training and outreach deliverables are concrete; Capacity Building is best as the foundation when IronRoost's institutional readiness still has surface area to harden.
The FY27 NOFO is expected to open around May 2027 with a roughly 30-day submission window. The exact date is not pre-announced — the only reliable signal is the AMS FMPP landing page itself going live with the new fiscal-year application package. Polling cadence below is built so the new NOFO's publication cannot be missed and Sections 1–5 can be executed from "draft" to "submit" in the available window.
Every Monday at 09:00 ET — open the AMS FMPP landing page, scan for the FY27 application package, screenshot the page as today's snapshot, file under binder/FMPP/nofo-snapshots/.
The canonical source is ams.usda.gov/services/grants/fmpp — bookmark that URL on every browser and phone, set a weekly calendar event, and identify a backup contact if Jean-Pierre is unavailable on publication day.
The AMS FMPP NOFO historically drops on a Tuesday or Wednesday. Polling weekly catches every drop within 3–4 days of publication — still inside the typical 30-day response window. Daily polling wastes attention; under-weekly polling risks missing the drop entirely. Monday 09:00 ET is the chosen anchor because it gives the full week to assemble submission materials before any internal IronRoost weekend cutoff.
The single highest-leverage habit for FMPP submission day is having every relevant program contact in one place. Ledger below lists the AMS FMPP program mailbox, the state-level liaison for related SCBGP cycles, the internal director/officer, and placeholder slots for partner organizations that Section 3 will populate as outreach progresses.
Update the Last contacted field after every email or call against this ledger. Ledger drift is the single biggest risk to submission-day execution — an out-of-date phone number or wrong hand-off address can cost a full business day, which inside a 30-day submission window is not recoverable.
This page is print-to-PDF friendly. Press Ctrl+P (or Cmd+P on macOS) for a usable offline working copy. Digital checkbox state resets after printing — tick on the printed copy by hand, then return here and tick digitally to update this page's row status.
Once every box above is ticked, IronRoost Farms is day-one-ready for the FMPP FY27 NOFO and can execute submission within the ~30-day window without rushing. The status badges flip In Progress as Sections 3 and 6 move forward, then to Done on completion. Reference cross-links already exist on the binder to SAM.gov Checklist, SCBGP 2027 Skeleton, and SCBGP Application Outline.