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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 their 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: 84 Stories
True Chesapeake Oyster Company

USDA Partners with One Small Farm to Make Enormous Impact

Deep beneath the cool waters of the largest estuary in the United States, rests a hidden world teeming with limitless possibilities. Chesapeake Bay is considered a national treasure, with a watershed stretching 64,000 square miles, touching six states, and impacting more than 16… [Read More]
BusinessFood SupplyGrantsLocal FoodsSustainable/Organic FoodsValue Added
TLC is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

Celebrating Cooperative Month with The Local Crowd Cooperative

The Local Crowd Cooperative (TLC Cooperative) has a new ring to it. Thanks to a grant from USDA Rural Development, The Local Crowd (TLC) is transitioning its organization to a national member-owned cooperative. For nearly 10 years, The Local Crowd has worked with rural… [Read More]
BusinessCooperativesGrantsRural Development
Freeze-dried fruit chips in plates on a table laid out for sampling.

Freeze Drying Lessens a Farmer’s Financial Risk Plus More

Rachael Ryan is a life-long farmer from southern New Mexico. Over the years she’s seen the ups and downs of her farming business called Back Yard Farms. --And she especially knows about the downs that come as an ag producer. She loves farming, but she knows farmers are at the… [Read More]
BusinessGrantsValue Added
People holding bison jerkey

Roam Free Ranch Uses USDA To Expand Markets

Roam Free Ranch (https://goroamfree.com) is a 16,000 acre grass-fed bison ranch in Hot Springs, Montana.  In 2020, Roam Free Ranch utilized a USDA Rural Development Value Added Producer Grant to secure funding to help scale production capacity and expand their markets.… [Read More]
BusinessLocal FoodsSmall BusinessSustainable/Organic Foods
Man standing next to lumber

Montana Lumber Mill Makes Energy Improvements with USDA

Sun Mountain Lumber, located in Deer Lodge, Mont., is a family-owned lumber mill which also serves as Deer Lodge Valley’s largest private employer. Since 2018, Sun Mountain Lumber has received two separate USDA Rural Development Rural Energy for America (REAP) program grants to… [Read More]
BusinessEnergy
A baby in a basket sits on a table next to a board game and a wine glass. Behind them, family and friends gather on green grass beneath a blue sky for what appears to be a picnic or some kind of gathering with tables and umbrellas.

RiverCrest Ranch Finds Community, Opportunity in USDA Grant

RiverCrest Ranch has always been a place worth sharing. Nestled in Oregon's Applegate Valley, the ranch's 11 and a half acres still hold the remnants of an 1870s hydraulic gold mining operation and "the best swimming hole on the Applegate River," according to owner Cathy Rodgers… [Read More]
BusinessGrantsLocal FoodsRecreationSustainable/Organic FoodsValue Added

With Faith in Fertile Ground, Maple Wind Farm Grows Up

Bruce Hennessey, co-Owner of Maple Wind Farm in Richmond, Vermont, was not born into an agricultural family. He did, however, learn to love the land and its creatures during a childhood reared in upstate New York. Following his heart outdoors, his career as an experiential… [Read More]
BusinessGrants
Lincoln Electric Downflex

Welding for a Better Workforce

For the rural residents of Fentress County, access to training programs that provide the advanced skills needed to compete for available jobs can be challenging. Traveling outside the area for training is expensive and often conflicts with current employment. Welding is one… [Read More]
BusinessGrants
Gullah Farmers Processing Room

New Facility Will Help Small Provide a Means for Small Farmers to Package, Store and Distribute their Produce

Larry Harris and his son, Julian Harris of Harris Farms, LLC often struggled to find a way to package and distribute their fresh produce and increase their sales. Fortunately for them and many other farmers, USDA Rural Development (RD) assisted in finding a solution to this… [Read More]
BusinessLocal FoodsLocal Produce
Photo of the BTAC Kitchen

Commercial Kitchen Opens Opportunities for Food Service in Southeastern Utah

Local leaders, board members, and stakeholders gathered to celebrate a grand opening of the Business Technical Assistance Center’s (BTAC) remote workspace and commercial kitchen on August 23, 2021, in Price, Utah. As Stephen Lisonbee, Senior Advisor for Rural Affairs, said at… [Read More]
Business

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