Success Stories

“Our overall feelings toward the home are inexplicable joy and relief.  It feels….like it was time and meant to be….home,” said new homeowner Jennifer Hornedeagle. The Hornedeagle family received a USDA Rural Development Section 502 Direct Single Family Housing packaged… [Read More]

Nearly 300 South Dakota agricultural producers and small businesses have reduced their energy costs – and increased their bottom line - with help from local consultants.  Mike Twedt and Larry Jensen have helped these recipients by providing energy assessments and technical… [Read More]

“As a kid, I moved around a lot and never really had a home to call my own,” said Charles McGaa, new homeowner. Through a USDA Rural Development 502 Direct Loan, careful planning and support from Oglala Sioux Tribe Partnership for Housing, McGaa’s dream of owning his home own… [Read More]

Recently, GROW South Dakota was named one of eight 2015 Bush Prize winners for Community Innovation.  GROW South Dakota knows that a little help can go a long way. Through an innovative program that provides financial and technical assistance, GROW South Dakota has sparked… [Read More]

When a patient’s fever raises suspicion of an infection, when an infection is potentially serious or when problems occur with treatment, an infectious disease specialist is usually called in to help. Working concurrently with the patient’s primary care physician, this specialist… [Read More]

Willis Netzer was living in an apartment  complex that had come under new ownership recently.  He felt that the new owners, in their move to adopt more restrictive policies, were limiting some of his own personal freedoms; thus, he began his search to find a new place… [Read More]

Biological needs – sleep, food, water, air, shelter - form the base as they are of the greatest importance in maintaining life. Once a person has met the biological needs, the next concern is safety. In one of the poorest counties in the nation, Buffalo County, USDA Rural… [Read More]

As Acting State Director of USDA Rural Development in South Dakota, I want to ensure small South Dakotan communities have just as much opportunity to have successful business ventures, to build their community infrastructure, and to improve the quality of life in their hometowns… [Read More]

In rural South Dakota, tribal members often lack access to higher education courses and facilities.  Students living on the 1,900-square-mile Rosebud Indian Reservation and the 11,000-square-mile Oglala Lakota Sioux Indian Reservation, for instance, struggle to travel long… [Read More]

Mni Waste’ Water Company located in Eagle Butte, SD, will soon have a new Water Treatment Plant and Trunkline stemming from the Missouri River thanks to USDA Rural Development Water and Waste Disposal funding of $65,871,293.  The federal funds will be leveraged with an… [Read More]