World Accessibility in Rural America

From USDA:

Posted by Jasper Schneider, Rural Utilities Service Administrator, on December 29, 2014 at 2:00 PM

USDA Rural Development and NCTC break ground on a new high speed broadband project serving rural Tennessee and Kentucky.

Access to the world via internet and mobile phone services is at the fingertips of most Americans, but this is not the reality for residents of many rural communities across the Nation.

In October 2014, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced $190.5 million in grants and loans to make broadband and other advanced communications infrastructure improvements in rural areas.

In December 2014, I visited with groups of people whose families and businesses will benefit from a $1,771,035 USDA Rural Development Community Connect Broadband Grant awarded to North Central Telephone Cooperative (NCTC) in Lafayette, Tennessee.

This rural area bordering the Tennessee/Kentucky state line has seen their share of businesses closing and families moving “closer to town.”  Many of the longtime residents understand why their children and grandchildren feel isolated and have decided to move away, but they, along with community and business leaders, hope the improvements that NCTC is making with the help of Rural Development funds will turn the tide and draw businesses and people back into the area.

Upon completion, NCTC service area residents will have access to internet speeds ranging from 5 Megabits per second (Mbps) to a full 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps). This means businesses will be able to capitalize off of e-commerce business strategies and offer teleworking options to their employees; community members will have more efficient and reliable access to commercial and emergency services.

I was reminded by a young father that shared how much he enjoyed raising his family on the same road as his parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, and uncles while also describing the challenge of not being able to work at home because he did not have access to high-speed internet service, that building a stronger rural America is not only vital to our nation economically, but as an underpinning to strong families.

Breaking ground on this project felt more like USDA Rural Development and NCTC were breaking antiquated barriers that have prevented America’s rural businesses, services and families from accessing the world.

USDA Rural Development’s Community Connect Grant Program is designed for communities like Lafayette. These grants enable access to broadband technology that will sustain existing and attract new businesses to rural communities. Broadband makes the world accessible even in rural America.

If your rural community needs financial assistance to make broadband access a reality, USDA Rural Development is accepting applications* from state or town governments, cooperatives, incorporated organizations, Indian Tribes and Tribal Organizations for Community Connect Grants.

Together let’s break down the barriers and make the world accessible. For more information contact your local USDA Rural Development team.

Nancy White with North Central Telephone Cooperative gives RUS Acting Administrator Jasper Schneider (middle) and Rural Development Tennessee State Director Bobby Goode (right) a tour of their broadband facilities in Lafayette, Tennessee.

Rural Battery Manufacturer Gets Boost from USDA Business Program

From the USDA:

Posted by Thomas Fern, Kentucky State Director, USDA Rural Development, on December 18, 2014 at 5:00 PM

Superior Battery used USDA support to improve efficiency and hire new workers for its battery manufacturing plant in Russell Springs, Kentucky.

Small business owners face countless challenges when it comes to finding success in the global marketplace – and for those in rural areas, the challenges are often more pronounced.

For more than 30 years, Superior Battery has been manufacturing a wide range of batteries from its plant in Russell Springs, Ky. The business is locally owned and operated, and was started by Randy Hart – an Air Force veteran and tool-and-die enthusiast – his wife and four nephews.

Over the past three decades, Superior has battled fierce competition, a disastrous plant fire and a severe economic recession. Thanks in large part to Hart’s commitment to his business, the community and his employees, the company has morphed into a major player in an industry that has seen more than 90 percent of battery manufacturers go bust. At one time, there were more than 300 battery manufacturers in the U.S. – but today there are only 14, and Superior is the youngest, according to Hart.

Hart attributes his success to diversification, reinvestment and staying up-to-date with the latest technology. He also puts tremendous emphasis on training and getting the most “bang for his buck” when it comes to large purchases.

USDA Rural Development is helping Hart maintain a competitive edge by providing assistance through the agency’s Rural Business Service. In May 2014, Superior was the recipient of a $10 million Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan through a local lender – Community Trust Bank – that made it possible for the company to finance efficiency improvements that are saving money, increasing profits and making it possible to save more than 160 jobs and create 25 new jobs.

Those jobs are vital to a community that has been hard hit by losses in the past couple of years. Russell Springs is the county seat of Russell County, one of Kentucky’s persistent poverty counties and part of USDA’s StrikeForce Initiative for Rural Growth and Opportunity.

Earlier this year, Fruit of the Loom closed its local production facility which led to the loss of 600 manufacturing jobs. In a rural county with a population of less than 18,000 – and a lack of meaningful employment opportunities – the closure was devastating.

USDA’s investment in Superior Battery is intended to help the company grow its business and improve the economic climate of the community. Superior exports its products to more than two dozen countries around the world and garners more than 30 percent of its revenue from exports.

Local Food, Local Places: Bringing Expertise and Creative Thinking to Community Economic Development

From the USDA:

Posted by Doug McKalip, Senior Advisor for Rural Affairs at the White House Domestic Policy Council, on December 3, 2014 at 2:00 PM

Cross-posted from the White House Rural Council blog:

Around the country, communities are seeking creative approaches to integrating entrepreneurship, environmental management, public health, and other place-based considerations into successful economic planning. Local food development can be one strategy.

The White House Rural Council and six federal agencies have selected 26 communities to participate in Local Foods, Local Places, a federal initiative providing direct technical support and expertise to community partners integrating local food systems into regional economic action plans. Under this effort, a team of federal agricultural, transportation, environmental, public health, and regional economic experts will work directly with communities to develop specific local food projects. These efforts will make a significant impact in the communities participating in the Local Foods, Local Places initiative.

The Local Foods, Local Places efforts are as varied as the communities themselves. For instance, Wheeling, West Virginia (pop. 28,000) is planning on revitalizing a historic and underused ceremonial vineyard into a productive public asset showcasing local products. Unity, Maine (pop. 1,800) will receive technical assistance to create a more connected, walkable community; better market the community’s agricultural character; and create a local food system for the town and surrounding region. In Itta Bena, Mississippi (pop. 2,000), Local Foods, Local Places technical assistance teams will work with neighborhood partners to create a permanent grocery store and lasting local food network, while Ajo, Arizona (pop. 3,700) will receive technical assistance to develop and implement an action plan promoting local foods and entrepreneurship in order to create an economically vibrant community.

Local Foods, Local Places is a unique partnership among the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), the Delta Regional Authority (DRA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The initiative draws on the Administration’s Partnership for Sustainable Communities, USDA’s Seven Strategies for Economic Development, and other place-based strategies to address regional challenges.

The initiative, first announced in June by USDA Secretary and White House Rural Council Chairman Tom Vilsack, is a model example of how federal experts and local leaders are working together to develop appropriate and effective approaches to community economic development. We look forward to seeing the results.

Doug McKalip is the Senior Advisor for Rural Affairs at the White House Domestic Policy Council.

USDA-Supported Small Business Assistance Provides a Ladder to Prosperity for Enterprising Hispanic Families

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Vicki Walker, USDA RD State Director, Oregon, on April 11, 2014 at 2:00 PM

First-time small business owner, Nabor Ceja, is one of 26 Hispanic and Latino entrepreneurs in Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge receiving business start-up and development services funded through the Rural Business Enterprise Grant program.

As a first-time small business owner, Nabor Ceja, has learned a lot since opening his restaurant, Chicken & Teriyaki, in Hood River, Oregon. Like many immigrants, Mr. Ceja wasn’t familiar with local processes and requirements for things like business registration, tax numbers, insurance, permits, licensing, hiring and employer obligations. With limited English proficiency, just asking the different agencies and offices for help was a significant barrier.

Mr. Ceja is not alone. Thirty percent of the population in Hood River County is Hispanic. Until recently, however, there were no small business assistance providers meeting the unique needs of the Hispanic community.

Gabriel Muro is the business services coordinator at a social services nonprofit called The Next Door. “I have met so many people who start businesses using their personal accounts, or who don’t get their W-9 forms submitted in time to demonstrate legal status and claim important exemptions. All of these things are done differently in Mexico.”

These items–and many more–each affect the bottom line and can have a significant impact on whether a small business can actually stay in business.

Economic growth in any rural community is, for its own sake, vitally important. It is especially so in Hood River County’s Hispanic community, where 50 percent of families live in poverty even though many came to the area specifically for the work. In the region’s fruit orchards, however, the employment and paychecks are often seasonal, and there are plenty of lean times no matter how hard one is willing to labor.

Many see a solution in growing Hispanic business ventures to create new income and employment opportunities. To support emerging entrepreneurs and the many benefits they bring to the overall community, The Next Door started a program called Promoviendo Prosperidad, or Promoting Prosperity. Through the program, Gabriel Muro is providing 26 Hispanic and Latino business owners and entrepreneurs with culturally appropriate, Spanish-language start-up and development services including business planning, guidance with registration and permit processes, access to financing options, application assistance for energy incentive programs, and much more.

The program received funding support from USDA Rural Development’s Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG) program and the National Association of Latino Asset Builders.

“Promoviendo Prosperidad is a perfect example of how USDA is investing in locally led, partnership efforts to provide pathways out of poverty and grow the middle class in rural America,” said USDA Rural Development State Director Vicki Walker.

The local small business development center and economic development district have also joined the effort as partners to provide additional expertise.

Nabor Ceja is grateful for the guidance, which has helped him successfully apply for state energy incentives, advertise and network through the local chamber of commerce, and source fresh, local produce at affordable prices.

He’s also capitalizing on what makes his restaurant unique. You see, Mr. Ceja not only dishes up authentic Mexican food, as do several other eateries in the immediate vicinity, he is also the only nearby business serving teriyaki. With business technical assistance through Promoviendo Prosperidad, he’s now developing a label so he can bottle his top-secret teriyaki sauce for retail sales.