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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: 24 Stories
![Woman holding green chile in her restaurant kitchen](/sites/default/files/styles/success_stories_thumbnail/public/20240426-USDA-RD-NEK-1172_SuccessStory.jpg?itok=W9R5cnh4)
Rural Business Development Grant Helps Business Expand Hours
If you pass through Peñasco, New Mexico, in the spring or summer and crave some New Mexican style comfort food, you are in luck. La Jicarita Harvest offers just the food to give you a taste of authentic northern New Mexican cuisine. Sopapilla burgers, Indian tacos, and Frito… [Read More]
![Three people standing next to a sign that say S.P.O.T.](/sites/default/files/styles/success_stories_thumbnail/public/20240426-USDA-RD-NEK-1237_SuccessStory.jpg?itok=OHfnsq8i)
Rural Business Development Grant and Nonprofit Boost Local Businesses
Peñasco, a small mountain town in northern New Mexico, sits along the High Road to Taos, a scenic byway in the beautiful Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Despite its small size, Peñasco offers a surprising amount to the area. The town enjoys a variety of restaurants and businesses… [Read More]
A Partnership Made To Make Homeownership Possible for Native Communities
Native Community Development Financial Institution Relending Demonstration Program
It’s very easy to get lost in where to start in the home buying process, between the application, documentation and the housing market it can be overwhelming. That’s when having support and… [Read More]
![Five people pose for a photo in a tire shop garage area](/sites/default/files/styles/success_stories_thumbnail/public/20240426-USDA-RD-NEK-1114_SuccessStory.jpg?itok=b7dBaR0d)
USDA Grant Helps Expand Tire Repair Service
Turning away customers is something no business owner ever wants to do, but that is exactly what employees at Traveler’s Service Station in Peñasco, New Mexico, had to do. Fortunately, the local nonprofit MAS Comunidad helped them purchase new equipment with funds from a USDA… [Read More]
![Man stands next to farm equipment](/sites/default/files/styles/success_stories_thumbnail/public/20240426-USDA-RD-NEK-1025_SuccessStory.jpg?itok=4TlEoTBv)
USDA Grant Helps Rancher Make Hay While the Sun Shines
Peñasco, New Mexico is the kind of place where everyone knows everyone, and a lot of people have multiple jobs in the community. It’s the kind of place where you might go into an automotive shop and end up talking to the local water association vice president.
Ivan Roybal,… [Read More]
![Man holding two bottles of wine in front of Black Mesa Winery sign](/sites/default/files/styles/success_stories_thumbnail/public/20240426-USDA-RD-NEK-2079_SuccessStory.jpg?itok=JWmLG2PH)
New Mexico Winery Harnesses Sun’s Power to Make Wine and Cider
As you drive north of Santa Fe, New Mexico, through Velarde, it might be easy to miss the small vineyard nestled in the middle of Black Mesa. If you stop in, though, you will have the opportunity to taste wine flavored with local choke cherries, prickly pear fruit from the… [Read More]
![Four people stand in front of a café counter](/sites/default/files/styles/success_stories_thumbnail/public/20240417-USDA-RD-NM-TSK_Success_Story.jpg?itok=z4iOtgjn)
Healthy Food Financing Initiative Helps Spread the Power and Love of Local Food in New Mexico
When you’re planning to spend a day at a museum, a couple logistical questions might come to mind: What am I going to eat? Is the food going to be too expensive and not good?
Luckily for those who visit Albuquerque’s Explora Science Center and Children’s Museum, local, healthy… [Read More]
Welcome Home: The Fire Didn't Beat Me.
Have you ever heard your heart in your ears? It’s that adrenaline rush that results from both good and bad events in our life. Often enough the events that trigger this feeling are good, your favorite team winning, that lucky break or unexpected promotion. There are also times… [Read More]
![Man and child standing under corn hung to dry](/sites/default/files/styles/success_stories_thumbnail/public/20240203-USDA-RD-NM-NEK-0018_1.jpg?itok=RTgGKqi3)
USDA Grants Help Farmer Care for Apple Orchards, Maintain Blue Corn Lineages
After traveling down a long, narrow dirt road in Dixon, New Mexico, I eventually came to the production area for La Mesa Farms. There, more than 5,000 beautiful ears of blue corn were hung up to dry for the winter. They would soon be taken down, and the corn removed from the cob… [Read More]
![Woman standing in front of Sagebrush Inn sign](/sites/default/files/styles/success_stories_thumbnail/public/20240202-USDA-RD-NM-NEK-3007.jpg?itok=EIEQezkG)
Rural Development Loan Guarantee Helps Hotel Stay in Business
If you happen to look for hotels in Taos, New Mexico, you might come across the historic Sagebrush Inn. The hotel opened over 90 years ago and includes a variety of historic rooms with fireplaces as well as some more modern updated ones.
“This hotel brings a sense of community… [Read More]
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