USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Justin Maxson unveiled a resource guide as part of National Preparedness Month to help rural communities seeking disaster resiliency and recovery assistance. This guide follows the Biden-Harris Administration's announcement of the American Jobs Plan, which targets investments to support infrastructure in communities that are most physically and financially vulnerable to climate-driven disasters.

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the Department is investing $464 million to build or improve renewable energy infrastructure and to help rural communities, agricultural producers, and businesses lower energy costs. USDA is financing $129 million of these investments through the Rural Energy for America Program. USDA financing the other $335 million of these investments through the Electric Loan Program.

USDA Rural Development announced that USDA is on track to provide a record level of support for rural working capital and other business capital needs in fiscal year 2021. The Department has invested $1.2 billion in loan guarantees to help rural businesses in 41 states. These investments – made through the Business and Industry Loan Guarantee Program and the Business and Industry CARES Act Program – are expected to create or save more than 12,000 jobs for people in rural areas.

The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac), the nation's secondary market provider that increases the availability and affordability of credit for the benefit of rural America, announced that it is enhancing its operations by expanding its internal loan servicing function. To further bolster these capabilities, the company has purchased the loan servicing rights for a portion of its Farm & Ranch and USDA Guaranteed loan portfolios through a strategic acquisition.

Northern Maine's long-term economic viability has always had a vulnerable side, with the ever-changing situation with logging and paper mills, but it took on new importance during the pandemic. That's why the Eastern Maine Development Corp.'s recently released five-year plan has added meaning.

The Washington State Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) yesterday approved $8,272,040 million in grants and $1,975,000 in low-interest loans for planning, economic development, and rural broadband infrastructure construction projects. Five rural broadband projects were approved for nearly $8 million in funding from the CERB coronavirus capital projects fund.

Sen. Michael Bennet has proposed legislation that would make the meaningful investments needed in our forests, rangelands, and watersheds by encouraging partnerships between federal, state, and tribal agencies. The House just put it into the budget reconciliation bill, known as the Build Back Better Act, providing $40 billion to restore our forests, improve wildlife habitat, while creating millions of good-paying jobs in rural areas.

A coal-fired power plant owned by Xcel Energy in Hayden, Colorado accounts for more than half the property tax base and is a reliable source of high-paying jobs in a town with rapidly increasing housing prices. The town could soon test a new idea to meet its climate goals without losing the economic benefits of the plant. Rather than raze the building, the project would transform the power plant into a massive battery to bank electricity generated by renewable energy.

Intro Tax Credit Finance WebCourse
September 29-30, 2021 - Daily: 12:00 - 5:00 PM Eastern

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USDA Rural Development (RD) developed this guide as a resource for rural communities seeking disaster resiliency and recovery assistance. The recent National Climate Assessment (NCA) identifies that more frequent and extreme weather and climate-related events, as well as changes in average climate conditions, are expected to continue to damage infrastructure, ecosystems, and social systems that provide essential benefits to communities.

During this installment of the CDFA Federal Financing Webinar Series, experts discussed federal broadband funding from the USDA and NTIA, as well as how to craft local policies and partner with anchor institutions to fund fiber broadband networks.

During this webinar, expert panelists provided best practices and tips for economic development practitioners on driving investments into rural Opportunity Zones in Texas.

This Interactive Guide from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) provides an interactive, step-by-step approach for users to filter through more than 90 broadband related programs compiled from 12 federal agencies and the FCC. It highlights general information about each program, including program descriptions, important dates, contact information, and links to program websites.

During the third installment of the CDFA Rural Development Finance Webinar Series, we discovered best practices of development finance agencies to help you identify the right partner for your projects.

Developed by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the newly enhanced Community Investment Explorer (CIE) 2.0 includes over 73 million transactions totaling over $3.2 trillion in community and economic development capital from 2012 to 2020. This interactive tool allows users to find out where capital is going, how equitably is it being distributed, and for what purpose is it serving.

During this installment of the CDFA Federal Financing Webinar Series, top officials from the EDA and USDA discussed their new financing solutions for local community facilities and how to coordinate with partners. Programs discussed included the EDA's American Rescue Plan programs and the USDA's Emergency Rural Healthcare Grant program.

This EIG report, interactive map, and case studies illustrate increasing wealth concentration in the U.S. and the urgency of forging new pathways that allow more Americans to have a substantial ownership stake in the wealth created by the U.S. economy. The report finds that income from assets has skyrocketed in centers of finance, technology, mining, or recreation while stagnating in many distressed communities.

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