Funding is part of nationwide announcement for cooperative agreements
DES MOINES, Iowa, Nov. 16, 2022 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development State Director in Iowa Theresa Greenfield today announced that USDA is awarding a $197,153 cooperative agreement to the Trustees of Grinnell College. The funding is part of the Rural Placemaking Innovation Challenge designed to attract people and jobs to rural areas.
“All across Iowa, rural communities are striving to come up with strategic plans to establish social, cultural, and economic opportunities for residents,” said Director Greenfield. “The USDA funding announced today takes a wrap-around approach to community and economic development that will incorporate creativity, infrastructure, and vibrant public spaces for our rural Iowa neighbors.”
The Trustees of Grinnell College will use the USDA funding to assess community needs and priorities to create a vision for community placemaking. The Build a Better Grinnell 2030 Placemaking Planning Project will work collaboratively as community partners to create a thriving Grinnell area for 2030 and beyond. With its broad reach, the project steering committee will connect with organizations and individuals across the Grinnell area and establish opportunities to conduct assessments and identify key contacts.
View the nationwide announcement and list of recipients here.
Background: Rural Placemaking Innovation Challenge
Placemaking is a collaborative planning and technical assistance process that helps leaders from rural communities create quality places where people will want to live, work, visit and learn.
The assistance will help the organizations support people who have been unserved or underserved and live in socially vulnerable communities, Tribal communities and rural areas.
Contact USDA Rural Development
USDA Rural Development has 11 offices across the state to serve the 1.7 million Iowans living in rural communities and areas. Office locations include a state office in Des Moines, along with area offices in Albia, Atlantic, Humboldt, Indianola, Iowa Falls, Le Mars, Mount Pleasant, Storm Lake, Tipton and Waverly.
To learn more about investment resources for rural areas in Iowa, call (515) 284-4663 or visit www.rd.usda.gov/ia. If you’d like to subscribe to USDA Rural Development updates, visit our GovDelivery subscriber page.
Under the Biden-Harris Administration, 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. For more information, visit www.rd.usda.gov.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate-smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.
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