initiatives

Today, the White House launched an interactive online feature with video reports from members of President Obama’s Cabinet.  In his message, Secretary Vilsack addresses the USDA’s accomplishments from 2009, and also talks about how we plan to make life better Americans in the year ahead. To see the Secretary’s statement, click here.

Washington State USDA Rural Development was pleased to join community leaders from the City of Shelton on January 6 at the official ground breaking ceremony marking the start of crucial upgrades to the City's aging wastewater treatment plant.

Langston, Oklahoma is a lot like many rural towns across the country; it has an aging population and a growing need for health care facilities.  Now, thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), Langston will be able to renovate and expand its local health clinic.

The Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest new Supervisor's Office in Rhinelander, Wisc., was re-engineered with "green" features. The use of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding helped complete its restoration.  Here students from the USDA Forest Service’s Blackwell Job Corps Center help with the restoration on this 3 year project.

On December 18, USDA Rural Development hosted a Jobs and Economy Roundtable discussion in Livingston, Montana in Park County.  About 7,000 people live in Livingston, which has an unemployment rate of 7.9 percent.  The local economy was once dominated by the railroad and agriculture, but in recent years, because Yellowstone National Park is less than an hour away, tourism has become a growing business segment.

Those of us fortunate enough to have quality broadband service in our homes and workplaces know that it opens educational, business and entertainment opportunities that can only be imagined by those still living in a “dial up” world.  President Obama believes that all Americans should have access to Broadband, and today, through funding provided by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, we made a substantial down payment on the drive to provide Broadband to communities that have little or no access to the technology.

USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan recently joined White House Assistant Chef and Food Initiative Coordinator Sam Kass and other USDA officials, staff, and volunteers to help winterize the garden on the White House grounds by establishing tunnels and cover crops.

Last week, Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan and I had the pleasure of meeting Kelly Hench, a single Mom of five whom, thanks to the recovery act, was able to move her kids to a home in a nice development just outside of Carlisle, PA.

With a lot of support from her family and financing through USDA Rural Development and the Recovery Act, Elissa Jahn is now a home owner. Check that, she is now a very proud home owner.

Despite the chilly air and light frost, the atmosphere at the Groundbreaking Ceremony I attended last month for the Winterport Water District was warm as partners greeted one another and remarked on the terrific project they were about to break ground upon.