rural development

In July of 2008, Swan's Island Library and former Old Atlantic Schoolhouse (circa 1903) was struck by lightning. The building and its contents were completely destroyed by fire, and along with it and important community gathering place and a treasured piece of history.

Three years to the month after the tragic incident, the community gathered for the Grand Opening of the new Swan’s Island Library.

For almost 50 years, ProWorks Inc. has provided valuable day services to Minnesota adults living with disabilities. For the last 30 years, ProWorks has counted the USDA as one of its partners.

ProWorks started as a pilot project in 1962 in the basement of an old school building in West Central Minnesota. About 30 years ago, ProWorks used a USDA Rural Development loan to build its current facility in Litchfield, Minn. ProWorks also has a facility in nearby Dassel.

Lee Township is a small community tucked into Michigan’s southwest corner in the rural area between Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Lake Michigan.

On Tuesday, Aug. 16, the township officially broke ground on a new fire station – though construction work has already begun.  The project was made possible by a $400,000 loan and $50,000 grant from Rural Development funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  Total project cost is $1,068,500 with Lee Township contributing $618,500.

Township Supervisor Steve Miller presided at the brief ceremony which included state Rep. Bob Genetski, and remarked that it was the biggest thing to happen in the township.

In what was some of the most beautiful weather Southwest Alaska had seen recently, USDA Administrator Jonathan Adelstein joined the USDA-Rural Development Alaska team to tour several rural communities including Manokotak, New Stuyahok, Kasigluk and Kwigillingok and Pitkas Point.  The site tours were part of viewing Rural Alaska Village Grant (RAVG) program projects USDA helped fund over the past few years.

The line of cars stretched out of the parking lot and onto the street at the Glencoe Co-op Association on a recent warm afternoon in August. With financing from the USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), the co-op recently installed the first flex fuel pump in McLeod County, and several  flex fuel vehicle owners in the area wanted to be among the first to fill up.

“We’re glad to help stimulate the economy and support clean air and agriculture. That’s what the co-op is all about,” said Dale Heglund, Co-op Director.

Tucked away in the hillsides of Somerset County, Pennwood Farms is seeing great results from its new methane digester. The 600-cow dairy farm is owned by four brothers who installed the digester in April of this year with the help of a $264,450 USDA Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) loan, a $264,574 REAP grant and $475,274 in PA Energy Development Authority funding. The digester produces biogas to power a 180-kilowatt engine-generator, providing more than enough electricity to meet the farm’s needs. In addition to electricity, the digester also produces fertilizer and cow bedding, saving the farm over $60,000 per year in bedding costs.

Rural Development’s REAP loan and grant to Pennwood Farms are excellent examples of funding that contributes to making farm operations more energy efficient and economical. This funding for renewable energy projects helps rebuild and revitalize rural America.

In early August, USDA Rural Development Puerto Rico held a stakeholder meeting to discuss Rural Development priorities for President Obama’s 2013 budget and 2012 Farm Bill.

The main objective the meeting was to obtain valuable input to develop and improve our mission area priorities for the upcoming fiscal year.  Leaders of local businesses & NGO’s shared their ideas and discussed on how Rural Development can enhance their programs and serve better our rural communities.

Dozens of people gathered in Monticello, Ky., on Wednesday to break ground on a project in which five local families began the process of building their own homes.

Great partnerships can lead to great projects – and this event highlighted several strategic partners that worked incredibly hard to make it happen, including USDA Rural Development, Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation, Southern Tier Housing Corporation, the Federation of Appalachian Housing Enterprises (FAHE) and the families of Pedro and Omaira Ruiz, Mary and Silvino Castillo, Yvonne Hernandez, Brenda McGuire and Patsy Perdue.

One ag-educator expressed the feelings of many at the first meeting of the USDA Advisory Committee on Minority Farmers when he concluded, “This meeting is a progressive step in the right direction. USDA should be commended for doing this, and should convene this kind of public forum more often.”

A small farmer from Michigan added her encouragement, saying, “We don’t just want to talk about it anymore - we want it to happen.”

Today, Secretary Vilsack announced that, during the month of July, USDA employees donated more than 270,000 pounds of canned goods and fresh produce to feed families across the country as part of the Feds Feed Families food drive!   That means USDA employees have worked together to donate more than 370,000 pounds of food in just two months.  With more than 1,800 USDA offices throughout the country participating, here are a few examples of how USDA employees are contributing to the Feds Feed Families campaign.

So far this August, a USDA Service Center in Tipton, Iowa, has harvested 165 pounds of beets, 500 pounds of sweet corn, 140 pounds of green beans, 270 pounds of tomatoes, and 30 pounds of zucchini from their People’s Garden to benefit Feds Feed Families.  And that’s in addition to the canned goods that they are collecting! Their hard work was highlighted on the local CBS news affiliate, KCRG-TV, which you can view here.