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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: 50 Stories
USDA funds for green house lighting

Local Employer Receives Funds to Save on Energy Costs

 Ace Begonias, Inc. located in Woodbridge, CT., was founded in 1976 using a rented 3000 sq. ft. antique facility. In 1980, with assistance from USDA’s Farmer's Home Administration, they purchased nearly two dozen acres in Bethany and Woodbridge and added a 17,000 sq. ft.… [Read More]
Connecticut
Energy

RUS Electric Program Finances Energy Efficiency and Conservation Program Loans

  The RUS Electric Program recently established a loan program to help electric cooperatives reach out to consumers and businesses. In a News Release dated October 23, 2014, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA had funded its first two loans under the… [Read More]
Arkansas
ElectricEnergyRenewable EnergyRural Development
R.C. Thomas Hydroelectric Station

RUS Electric Program Finances Hydroelectric Power

Hydroelectric power RUS Electric Program approved $73 million in loan funds to finance ETEC’s R. C. Thomas Hydroelectric Station (R.C. Thomas Station), formally known as the Lake Livingston Hydro-electric Station, located near the City of Lake Livingston in Polk County, Texas.… [Read More]
Texas
ElectricEnergyRenewable Energy
Woodville Renewable Energy Woodville, Texas

RUS Electric Program Finances Woody Biomass Power

Biomass RUS Electric Program partnered with borrower, East Texas Electric Cooperative, Inc. (ETEC) in order to fund the recently completed Woodville Woody Biomass Project located near Woodville Texas. Woodville is a 49.9 MW carbon neutral renewable energy facility that will burn… [Read More]
Texas
BiomassElectricEnergyRenewable Energy
Chocowinity Solar Project

RUS Electric Program Funds Largest USDA Solar Project to Date

RUS Electric Program has provided loan funds in the amount of $20 million for a renewable energy solar project, which is USDA’s largest solar project to date. The loan to Montgomery Solar, LLC, will help build a 20 megawatt Solar Farm located in Briscoe, NC. “It will occupy… [Read More]
North Carolina
ElectricEnergyRenewable EnergySolar Energy
REAP Program

Save Money Save Energy

South Dakota USDA Rural Development recently partnered with Black Hills Power and Light based in Rapid City, SD to host four outreach seminars that provided participants with information on Black Hills Power energy efficiency rebates and incentives, customer service programs and… [Read More]
South Dakota
EnergyRenewable Energy

Somerset County Farm Saving Energy

With energy rates on the rise, farms everywhere are struggling to make ends-meet. Pennwood Farms in Berlin, a borough located approximately 75 miles southeast of Pittsburgh in Somerset County, is one of many dairy farms looking to curb the cost of energy by  producing… [Read More]
Pennsylvania
EnergyRenewable Energy
Precision Prefinishing installed energy-efficient lighting at its Harrisburg facility with help from a USDA grant.

A Rural Business is Reaping the Rewards of Increased Energy Efficiency

Precision Prefinishing may be a small business, but it needs a large space to conduct its work of custom finishing panels for cabinets, siding, and other construction products. Its 130,000-square-foot facility in the rural town of Harrisburg in western Oregon was lit with… [Read More]
Oregon
EnergyREAP

Northern Nevada Manufacturer Uses REAP to Overhaul Assembly Line, Saves Money on Automation and LED Lights

U.S. Ordnance, a Northern Nevada weapons manufacturing plant, recently overhauled its assembly line and energy systems with help from staff with Nevada Industry Excellence (NVIE) and USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). Originally based out of California, owner-… [Read More]
Nevada
EnergyRenewable EnergySolar Energy
El Molcajete after improvements.

El Cambio es Bueno! (Change is Good!)

In March of 2017, the city of Scottsbluff announced a grant opportunity for businesses (many of which are Hispanic owned) to improve the exterior of buildings along the East Overland Corridor.  Ramon and Elena Pedroza decided this might be an opportunity for their… [Read More]
Nebraska
Energy

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