Rural Development

USDA’s Rural Development Undersecretary Xochitl Torres Small says the agency is extending the application deadline for funding under the ReConnect Program to March 9th. The funds are intended to expand high-speed internet access to millions of people across rural America. ...

USDA's rural development community facilities funding, recently highlighted by a $1-billion award to projects nationwide, consist of several grant and loan programs within rural development. And as Washington State Rural Development Director Helen Price Johnson points out, funding vehicles can be combined to bring needed facilities projects together ...

USDA Rural Development announced Friday the investment of $16.5 million to help the rural Idaho economy. The funds will be used to help business owners, farmers and others hire more workers, to grow business and expand markets. “For a while until now, rural Idaho hasn’t always been at the front of the line when it comes to receiving the help it needs to grow economically and to create good paying

Margaret Hoffman has been pointed state director for USDA’s Rural Development in Oregon. The announcement by the Biden Administration was one of several regional appointments, including those for FSA in five states. “A year into this administration, we continue to build an experienced team in our state offices,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “I have full con ...

One of the primary goals of the USDA's new undersecretary of Rural Development. "I want all Americans to understand that rural America is critically important to our nation's economy," noted Xochitl Torres Small. She added a continued strategic investment in rural infrastructure will be essential in economic growth in these areas ...

Last week, the U.S. Senate confirmed Congresswoman Xochitl Torres Small as the USDA’s Undersecretary for Rural Development. “As Undersecretary for Rural Development Xochitl Torres Small will build on her legacy as a champion for small towns and rural communities, much like the one she grew up in in New Mexico,” said Senate Ag Chair Debbie Stabenow. “She will give v ...

Cactus Health Services in rural Texas was outgrowing its leased facility in a non-commercial area. "All patients in this two-county wide area and then we also get patients from all the way up in the city of Odessa that's an hour and a half away that come see our federally qualified health center ...

A USDA funding program gives resources for building rural economies and rural development. Rural Cooperative Business Service Administrator Karama Neal, said when it comes to the scope of the Rural Economic Development Loans and Grants program, "typically rural electric cooperatives can borrow the funds at 0% interest from us," Neal added ...

The USDA is reminding farmers and those in rural America about REAP, the Rural Energy for America Program. Rural Business and Cooperative Service Administrator Karama Neal says it's a program that benefits customers in a variety of ways. "It helps agricultural producers and rural small businesses to purchase and install renewable energy systems and make energy efficiency improvement ... Read

USDA has published a Federal Register Notice, seeking public input regarding efforts to advance racial justice and equity. "We obviously are dealing with a circumstance where gaps have grown between socially disadvantaged producers and other producers in this country and also gaps that have grown in terms of communities," said Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack ...