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WENTWORTH — A modest contribution from Rockingham County taxpayers could help a nonprofit local food coalition start its new virtual farmers market while the organization awaits more grant funding.

The Board of Commissioners voted Monday to allocate $10,000 from its remaining contingency funds to help pay for the start-up costs of the Piedmont Local Food distribution project.

The money will help the Rockingham County Local Food Coalition that started the initiative pay for a part-time project manager, technology setups, marketing and initial food distributions.

“I don’t see this $10,000 as any more than an incentive that we would give to other industries for coming to this county,” said Commissioner Thomas Flynt, who voted to help the group.

Monday’s allocation is in addition to the $10,000 in seed money the commissioners transferred from the Rockingham County Business & Technology Center’s community kitchen budget in December. The center has worked with the county’s cooperative extension office over the past year to form the Local Food Coalition and create the farmers market.

“We really don’t have any plans to ask you for any more money at this point in time,” Brenda Sutton, director of the county office of the N.C. Cooperative Extension, told the commissioners. “We have folks ready to buy and folks ready to sell.”

Sutton said the coalition expects the market to generate $60,000 in revenue this year and become self-sustaining by the third year.

The project has received $40,000 in funding from the Golden Leaf Foundation and officials have applied for an additional $228,000 in grants.

About 50 farmers in Rockingham, Stokes, Caswell and Guilford counties joined the coalition, and the organization plans to open its virtual farmers market for business by March 20. A Web site will enable restaurants and other businesses in the Piedmont Triad to order fruit, vegetables and other products from participating farmers. The farmers will then deliver the food to businesses or central locations for pickup.

The coalition plans to sell to Marriott hotels in Winston-Salem and Greensboro, Sutton said.

“They’re ready to go as soon as we have the pieces in place within the next two weeks,” Sutton told commissioners.

In other business:

• Commissioners scheduled a public hearing concerning the county’s plans to pursue up to $14.8 million in various low-interest loans to pay for the construction of the new Douglass Elementary School in Eden. The county plans to get financing through BB&T and close on the loan in April. The public hearing will take place at 7 p.m. on March 8 in the county governmental center.
• The board also approved giving $28,000 in emergency financing to the Rockingham Opportunities Corp. to pay its employees this week. The nonprofit organization, which serves developmentally disabled adults, requested about $73,000 in funding because of a budget shortfall. The board voted to review the organization’s operations before paying the remainder.

Contact Morgan Josey Glover at 627-4881, Ext. 119, or morgan.josey@news-record.com