August 23, 2023

USDA Invests Connecting Rural America to High-Speed Internet

On August 21, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development and Missouri State Director Kyle Wilkens announced $76 million in grants and loans to connect thousands of rural residents, farmers, and business owners across rural Missouri to affordable high-speed internet through the ReConnect Program, funded by President Biden’s Infrastructure Law. This funding opportunity is designed to fund high-speed internet projects in the most rural, remote, underserved, and unserved communities.

“I am excited to announce that Missouri is receiving nearly $76 million from the ReConnect program as part of President Biden’s Investing in America to rebuild the economy,” Wilkens said. “Access to high-speed internet is crucial to rural communities in Missouri. These projects will provide vital opportunities to bring local business to global markets, connect rural communities to healthcare without a long drive into the nearest city, and offers new tools for farmers and ranchers to expand their business. Finally, these projects are crucial for helping to bring our younger generations back home after college to continue the family legacy.”

Today’s investments will help to increase access and usage of broadband infrastructure in rural areas lead to growing jobs, population growth, and higher rates of new business opportunities for rural businesses, agricultural producers, digital skills, online education, and job search opportunities for rural residents. With the ReConnect program, many rural America will have the benefit of having high-speed internet.

Missouri’s three projects in this announcement include:

• Northeast Missouri Rural Telephone Company is receiving a $8.8 million loan to benefit 1,188 people, 15 businesses and 256 farms in Schuyler and Scotland counties in Missouri.
• Mountain View Rural Fiber LLC is receiving a $24.8 million loan to benefit 5,519 people, 298 businesses, 46 farms and 29 educational facilities in Howell, Shannon, and Texas counties in Missouri.
• Aptitude Internet LLC is receiving a $42.3 million grant to benefit 18,982 people, 480 businesses, 1,452 farms and 15 educational facilities in Crawford, Franklin, Gasconade, Maries, Osage and Phelps counties in Missouri.

Background: ReConnect Program  

Applicants to ReConnect Program funding must serve a rural area that lacks access to service at speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 20 Mbps upload. Applicants must also commit to building facilities capable of providing high-speed internet service with speeds of 100 Mbps (download and upload) to every location in the proposed service area. Additionally, to ensure that rural households that need internet service can afford it, all awardees will be required to apply to participate in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). The ACP offers a discount of up to $30 per month toward internet service to qualifying low-income households and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal Lands.

For more information about, please visit: ReConnect Loan and Grant Program | USDA

Contact USDA Rural Development

Information on programs available through USDA Rural Development is available by visiting www.rd.usda.gov/mo, by calling (573) 876-0976, or by emailing RDMissouri@usda.gov. Stay current by following @RD_Missouri on Twitter.

USDA Rural Development has 25 offices across the state to serve the 2.2 million residents living in rural Missouri. Office locations include a state office in Columbia, along with local offices in Butler, Charleston, Chillicothe, Clinton, Dexter, Eldon, Farmington, Higginsville, Houston, Kennett, Kirksville, Maryville, Mexico, Moberly, Neosho, New London, Poplar Bluff, Richmond, Rolla, Sedalia, Springfield, St. Joseph, Troy, and West Plains.

If you’d like to subscribe to Missouri USDA Rural Development updates, visit our GovDelivery subscriber page.

July 31, 2023

USDA Helps Expand Access to Rural Health Care in Missouri

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development State Director in Missouri Kyle Wilkens announced that USDA is expanding access to health care for more than 102,000 people living in rural Missouri through the Emergency Rural Health Care Grant Program.

“Investments in rural health care are absolutely invaluable,” Wilkens said. “Access to affordable, state-of-the-art health care can be challenging to provide in rural areas of our state, and investments made through USDA’s Emergency Rural Health Care Grant Program help to bridge that gap.”

Big Springs Medical Association Inc., with support from the Rural Maternity and Obstetric Management – Southeast Missouri Partnership consortium, will use an $8.4 million grant to construct a three-story facility to house:

• Obstetrics
• Maternal fetal medicine
• Pediatric specialists
• Dentistry
• Behavioral health
• Substance abuse disorder
• Community health and more.

This centralized hub will allow these departments to better connect with satellite clinics across the state and provide a central location for in-house support services to provide high-quality patient care.

This investment will help address regional rural health care challenges by better assisting some of the most remote areas of the state. These solutions will build a stronger, more sustainable rural health care system for the state’s small towns and communities.

Background: Emergency Rural Health Care Grants

Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act in March 2021 to deliver immediate economic relief to people impacted by the pandemic. Within months after the Act’s passage, USDA responded quickly by making this funding available to ensure the long-term availability of rural health care services.

In August 2021, USDA made the Emergency Rural Health Care Grants available through the American Rescue Plan Act to help rural health care facilities, tribes and communities expand access to health care services and nutrition assistance.

The assistance is helping provide immediate relief to support rural hospitals, health care clinics and local communities. USDA is administering the funds through Rural Development’s Community Facilities Program, which helps residents in rural areas build or improve essential community infrastructure and purchase or replace equipment needed for essential community services.

More than 100 types of projects are eligible for Community Facilities funding.

Eligible applicants include:

• Municipalities,
• Public bodies
• Nonprofit organizations and federally recognized Native American tribes.

Projects must be in rural areas with a population of 20,000 or less.

To learn more about Community Facilities Program funding opportunities, contact your local USDA Rural Development office. Also see the Community Facilities Direct Loan Program Guidance Book for Applicants (PDF, 669 KB) for a detailed overview of the application process.

Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities, create jobs and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural, tribal and high-poverty areas.

Contact USDA Rural Development

Information on programs available through USDA Rural Development is available by visiting www.rd.usda.gov/mo, by calling (573) 876-0976, or by emailing RDMissouri@usda.gov. Stay current by following @RD_Missouri on Twitter.

USDA Rural Development has 25 offices across the state to serve the 2.2 million residents living in rural Missouri. Office locations include a state office in Columbia, along with local offices in Butler, Charleston, Chillicothe, Clinton, Dexter, Eldon, Farmington, Higginsville, Houston, Kennett, Kirksville, Maryville, Mexico, Moberly, Neosho, New London, Poplar Bluff, Richmond, Rolla, Sedalia, Springfield, St. Joseph, Troy, and West Plains.

Emergency Rural Health Care Grants

Community Facilities Programs

June 16, 2023

USDA Announces Over $84 Million to Connect people in Rural Missouri to High-Speed Internet

On June 13, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development State Director in Missouri Kyle Wilkens announced $84.6 million in grants and loans to connect thousands of rural residents, farmers and business owners in rural Missouri to reliable, affordable high-speed internet.

“The ReConnect program helps to build high-speed internet infrastructure connecting small business owners to customers and markets in other parts of the state, around the country, and worldwide,” said Wilkens. “It also expands educational opportunities for students and enables rural households to access medical care, particularly to specialists, without leaving their homes. For too long many rural communities in Missouri have been left out of the digital economy. High-speed internet is now the lynch pin for rural communities to grow. For farmers in rural communities, a fast-growing market of smart technology designed specifically for agriculture can give them real-time access to vital information from sensors placed around their land holdings. The ReConnect program is allowing our rural communities and producers to keep up with the ever-evolving need for high-speed internet.

Under President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes $65 billion to connect everyone to high-speed internet through the Internet for All initiative. USDA is connecting more people to high-speed internet in this fourth funding round of the ReConnect Program. Since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, the Department has invested in 142 ReConnect projects that will bring high-speed internet access to 314,000 rural Americans.

Investment highlights include:

• Goodman Telephone Company Inc. will connect nearly 7,000 people, 206 farms, 140 businesses and two educational facilities to high-speed internet in McDonald and Newton counties.
• The Seneca Telephone Company will connect nearly 7,000 people, 240 farms, 178 businesses and 12 educational facilities to high-speed internet in McDonald and Newton counties.
• Ozark Telephone Company will connect nearly 7,000 people, 188 farms, 171 businesses, and six educational facilities to high-speed internet in McDonald County, Missouri and Benton County, Arkansas.

Today’s investments in Missouri are in coordination with the recent announcement made by U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, that highlights $714 million in USDA investments in 19 states:

• Alaska
• Arkansas
• Arizona
• California
• Georgia
• Idaho
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Minnesota
• Missouri
• Montana
• New Mexico
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Utah
• Washington

For more information, please view a full listing of projects.

Applicants to ReConnect Program funding must:

• Serve a rural area that lacks access to service at speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 20 Mbps upload
• Applicants must also commit to building facilities capable of providing high-speed internet service with speeds of 100 Mbps (download and upload) to every location in the proposed service area
• Additionally, to ensure that rural households that need internet service can afford it, all awardees will be required to apply to participate in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). The ACP offers a discount of up to $30 per month towards internet service to qualifying low-income households and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal Lands.

For assistance with or questions regarding any of USDA’s high-speed internet programs, please contact a Missouri General Field Representative.

Contact USDA Rural Development:

Information on programs available through USDA Rural Development is available by visiting www.rd.usda.gov/mo

Call (573) 876-0976

Email: RDMissouri@usda.gov.

If you’d like to subscribe to Missouri USDA Rural Development updates, visit the GovDelivery subscriber page.

May 15, 2023

USDA Invests $24,500 to Purchase Critical Public Safety Equipment in Rural Missouri

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development State Director for Missouri Kyle Wilkens today announced $24,500 in grant funding through USDA’s Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant program.

“Every investment that we make here at Rural Development impacts the growth and economic sustainability of our great state’s rural communities,” Wilkens said. “USDA strives to meet the unique needs of every rural town and city – and no two communities are alike. As long as we can continue to be a part of the investment to address those needs, we are one step closer to building a stronger and more resilient rural Missouri and America.”

With a population of just over 3,200 residents, the city ‘defined less by boundaries on a map than by the sense of shared values [their] residents hold dear, were having maintenance issues with their existing fleet of law enforcement vehicles due to high mileage. Thanks to a partnership with USDA and grant financing through the Community Facilities program, the city was able to purchase four new vehicles that will to ensure local law enforcement is able to continue to providing efficient public safety services while also keeping law enforcement providers safe enroute.

This investment reflects the many ways that USDA Rural Development’s programs can help rural areas address the unique needs of their individual and surrounding communities to help rural America build back better.

Background

USDA’s Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant Program helps residents in rural areas build or improve essential community infrastructure and purchase or replace equipment needed for essential community services.

More than 100 types of projects are eligible for Community Facilities funding. Eligible applicants include municipalities, public bodies, nonprofit organizations and federally recognized Native American tribes. Projects must be in rural areas with a population of 20,000 or less.

To learn more about Community Facilities Program funding opportunities, contact your local USDA Rural Development office. Also see the Community Facilities Direct Loan Program Guidance Book for Applicants (PDF, 669 KB) for a detailed overview of the application process.

Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities, create jobs and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural, Tribal and high-poverty areas.

Contact USDA Rural Development

Information on programs available through USDA Rural Development is available by visiting www.rd.usda.gov/mo, by calling (573) 876-0976, or by emailing RDMissouri@usda.gov. Stay current by following @RD_Missouri on Twitter.

USDA Rural Development has 25 offices across the state to serve the 2.2 million residents living in rural Missouri. Office locations include a state office in Columbia, along with local offices in Butler, Charleston, Chillicothe, Clinton, Dexter, Eldon, Farmington, Higginsville, Houston, Kennett, Kirksville, Maryville, Mexico, Moberly, Neosho, New London, Poplar Bluff, Richmond, Rolla, Sedalia, Springfield, St. Joseph, Troy, and West Plains.

May 2, 2023

USDA Seeks Applications for Grants to Build Community-Oriented High-Speed Internet Networks for People in Rural Areas

USDA is accepting applications for grants to build community-oriented, high-speed internet networks for people in rural areas.

The Department is making up to $79 million in grants available under the Community Connect program. Recipients may use the funds to establish high-speed internet networks that will foster economic growth and deliver enhanced educational, health care and public safety benefits.

Eligible applicants:

• State and local governments
• Federally recognized Tribes
• Nonprofits
• For-profit corporations and limited liability companies.

USDA does not provide funding directly to individuals under this program.

If you need assistance with an application or a question, please contact Telecommunications Field Staff Branch Chief

Christopher Collins at: chris.collins@usda.gov

(573) 208-0574

View the full announcement here.

View the Funding Opportunity Announcement

Apply here

May 9, 2023

USDA Seeks Applications for Technical Assistance Grants – Expand Access to Safe, Affordable and Equitable Housing for People in Rural America

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development under Secretary Xochitl Torres Small, has announced that the Department is accepting applications for technical assistance grants to preserve rental housing and expand access to safe, affordable and equitable housing for people in rural America.

USDA is making available $7.9 million in funding through its Rural Housing Service (RHS) and through two Multifamily Housing (MFH) Technical Assistance grant programs: the Nonprofit Transfer Technical Assistance (NP TA) Grant Program and the Off-Farm Labor Housing Technical Assistance (Off-FLH TA) Grant Program. This funding is available for eligible technical assistance providers seeking grants to provide technical assistance services to qualified applicants.

There is $6.9 million in grants available through the NP TA Grant Program. The program awards grants to eligible nonprofit organizations and public housing authorities (PHAs) to provide technical assistance and other services to enable affordable housing preservation through the transfer of MFH Direct Loan properties from current owners to nonprofits or PHAs.

Eligible grantees:

• Public and private nonprofit organizations
• Public Health Agencies (PHAs)
• Tribal housing nonprofits
• Tribally designated housing entities.

Another $1 million in grants will be available for eligible nonprofits through the Off-FLH TA Grant Program. This program awards grants to nonprofit organizations to provide technical assistance to applicants for Off-FLH loans and grants. These grants are used to increase the availability of affordable, decent housing for farm laborers.

Available funding amounts for the technical assistance programs may also be found here.

Minimum Award amounts:

• Nonprofit Transfer Technical Assistance – $100,000
• Off-Farm Labor Housing Technical Assistance – $500,000

Maximum award amounts:

• Nonprofit Transfer Technical Assistance – $500,000
• Off-Farm Housing Technical Assistance – $250,000

Deadline to submit applications: July 3, 2023, Noon ET

For additional information see page 28469 of the Federal Register

To learn more, read full Stakeholder Announcement.

General questions should be directed to:

Stephanie Vergin, Policy Advisor

Production and Preservation Division

Multi-Family Housing

United States Department of Agriculture

NPTA.RFP@usda.gov or

RD.FLHTA@usda.gov