| OCTOBER 29, 2011 -- Officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture are saying New England residents — Connecticut, specifically — are not taking advantage of available funds for rural development.
The Rural Development Business and Cooperative Programs had a $575 million impact in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island in 2010, mostly made of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars, providing infrastructure for rural communities. In the 2011 fiscal year, Connecticut was allotted $8 million, but only $4.5 million of it was accessed.
When remaining funds aren’t used, they are given to other states, usually nowhere in the same region.
“Fill that pipeline with applications,” State Business Programs Specialist with the USDA Jennifer Lerch said. “Don’t be intimidated by the approach — let’s see if we can make this happen.”
Lerch and others from surrounding USDA bureaus in Southern New England educated local government officials, business owners and agricultural associates on their accessible grants, guarantees and loans available through the federal government.
Though the 2010 bail out funds significantly exceeded the normal average, the Rural Development program has issued just under $1.6 billion in the last nine years.
Those seeking funds are encouraged to be creative and innovative with their applications, best focusing on energy improvements, but USDA officials emphasized the need to collaborate with offices — like the local one in Windsor — to ensure eligibility and scoring before pouring months of work into the grant processes.
Business and industry loans and rural development funding are the best routes, Lerch said, for those seeking assistance.
But currently, there are no applications in the queue.
“Fill that pipeline,” Lerch reiterated. |
