A new local organization that pairs investors with small food entrepreneurs scored a big win earlier this week.

Cedar Valley Farm, a family-run operation in Garnett, took home the top prize at the 2014 Slow Money National Gathering in Louisville, Ky. — a $60,000 zero percent, three-year loan.

Playing a key role in the victory was Slow Money Northeast Kansas, a chapter member of a national nonprofit called Slow Money that was started by Douglas County Commissioner Nancy Thellman in 2013.

The “Slow Money” name comes from the Slow Food movement, which advocates for people investing in small, organic growers and local food. Slow Money has helped facilitate $38 million in investments since 2010, while Slow Money Northeast Kansas, one of over a dozen chapters, began convening last spring.

Thellman’s group helped the farm, managed by Rosanna Bauman, receive an invitation to the national gathering, where 20 entrepreneurs from across the country made presentations. With over 900 people in attendance, they voted for Bauman’s farm to receive the $60,000 prize.

Bauman said the zero-percent loan will help her operation purchase equipment necessary to become a feed hub, a place where non-GMO grains can be processed for other farms in the region. She said many nearby farmers already use the Baumans’ U.S. Department of Agriculture-certified poultry processing system.

The Bauman farm also produces pastured poultry, eggs and beef by using non-GMO grains as feed.

She said the impact of such a feed hub — she expects to move 160 tons of grain next year for 10 farmers and perhaps double the amount the year after — is what separated her from other contestants.

“They knew that Kansas could utilize (the money) way better than the other projects,” Bauman said.