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Success Stories

A mother and three daughters pose around a dining room table. There are lace curtains and blue wall in the background and some dishes on the table in the foreground.

“This is Home” – A Family Finds Their Forever Home in Calais, Maine

One of the first rooms Heather Gagne and her daughters began redecorating in their new home is the dining room, shown in the top photo. They have been busy repainting and making other updates. Raising a family in coastal Machias, Maine may sound lovely, but for Heather Gagne recent years proved stressful. There were few housing options in the Downeast community, and Heather was glad to find a rental home to…
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Use the filters below to find additional stories about how our programs have helped rural communities across the nation.

Search Results: 38 Stories

Vineyard uses Rural Development funding to help grow more than grapes

Rural Development is a driving force working behind the scenes in ways that many across the country do not realize. One way Rural Development helps is by supporting small businesses as they grow. Rural Development also assists single families in securing loans and grants to… [Read More]
Kentucky
Value Added
Port Orford Sustainable Seafood helps local, small-town fishers market and sell their products.

Rural Fishers Tap Local Foods Market

The commercial fishers in the small southern Oregon coastal community of Port Orford were reliant on the corporate model to sell their catch. “The fishermen here are fiercely individualist and there’s all kinds of characters,” said Aaron Longton, captain of the Goldeneye. “But… [Read More]
Oregon
Value Added

Claybrook Farms Providing Beef and Jobs

Even though Claybrook Farms had a long standing reputation for its excellent Black Angus cattle breeding operation, the new owner wanted to broaden the farm’s horizon.The Turner family purchased the 700 acre Claybrook Farms in 1975 growing it to over 1,000 acres and adding the… [Read More]
Tennessee
Know Your FarmerLocal FoodsLocal ProduceSustainable/Organic FoodsValue Added

Family Business Grows into Success

Little did PJ Jonas know when she began making goat milk soap in 2006 that her project would develop into a career that she, husband Jim, and their eight children would soon share.Because of her desire to not use chemicals on the children’s skin, PJ wanted a natural soap that… [Read More]
Indiana
Value Added
Dairy Cows at Kalispell Kreamery in Montana

USDA Assists in Keeping the Value-Added in Flathead Dairy Business

Just about everybody in the Flathead Valley knows about Kalispell Kreamery. The creamery, located only 20 feet from the milking barn of their dairy, bottles milk with as little processing, delay and manipulation as possible. The dairy business is well known for producing local,… [Read More]
Montana
Value Added
Sweet Mountain Farm owner and custom hive

USDA Assists Local Honey Producer to Expand Operations and Impact Local Economy

Sweet Mountain Farm, LLC, a honey producer, custom beehive builder, and honeybee breeder on Washington Island, Wis. Washington Island is a 35 square foot island located 7 miles from the northern tip of Wisconsin’s Door County mainland. Since the island is set apart from… [Read More]
Wisconsin
Value Added
Lone Tree Foods logo.

Marketing and Modernization Project Increases Local Food Options

Lone Tree Foods, with the main office in Crete, Neb., is a farmer-owned business named for the Lone Tree Ferry that was instrumental in connecting Nebraska to the eastern territories.  Their mission is to connect local farmers with wholesale buyers in Eastern Nebraska and… [Read More]
Nebraska
Value Added

Sharing Their Love for Wine, All Across Nebraska

    McFarland Family Farms, LLC dba Mac’s Creek Vineyards & Winery, located in Lexington, Nebraska, is a small locally owned vineyard and winery. They grow more than 10 varieties of grapes that are productive for the Nebraska climate, and are able to produce 16… [Read More]
Nebraska
Value Added

Additional Success Stories