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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: 878 Stories
Fish Lake Valley is surrounded by the White Mountains in southwest Nevada, and this is where the PACE project will be built. The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2026. Photo by Valley Electric Association. 

Fish Lake Valley is Making Clean Energy Upgrades to Minimize Electrical Outages

Valley Electric Association, a community-driven cooperative in Pahrump, Nevada, applied for a Powering Affordable Clean Energy (PACE) award to provide a solution during hot summer blackouts. Fish Lake Valley is a remote, primarily agricultural community served by a single-… [Read More]
Nevada
People with shovels in front of large machinery

Appalachian Ohio Village Breaks Ground on New Wastewater Project

Chauncey, in southeastern Athens County, is a village of 900 residents in Ohio's Appalachian Region. USDA Photo.  The Village of Chauncey (pronounced Chance – E), is a small, rural community tucked away in the heart of Appalachian… [Read More]
Ohio
Wastewater
The central building at the Grant County Fair Grounds was significantly damaged by a presidentially-declared disaster in May 2022.

Grant County Fairgrounds Uses Disaster Relief Grant to Replace Storm-Damaged Building

For over 120 years, families have traveled to Herman, Minnesota, each summer to attend the Grant County Fair. Following a presidentially declared natural disaster two years ago, fairground officials turned to Rural Development to help restore one building to its former glory.In… [Read More]
Minnesota
Disaster
tri county prez

Harvesting Connections: USDA & Tri-County Co-Op

A few miles off the interstate, tucked in the middle of the state in Hightstown, New Jersey, the Tri-County Co-op Auction & Market stands as a daily testament to community spirit and agricultural dedication.Established in 1933, this bustling market has been a mainstay for… [Read More]
New Jersey
Cooperatives
Poultry house interior and vacant Tyson Foods lot.

Exploring FAIR Markets for Virginia Agricultural Products Through Cooperatives

Successful partnerships can be found in just about every industry, but the ones that support agriculture are a unique breed because they ultimately benefit everyone in rural communities. In Virginia, one highly effective collaboration has been helping groups of farmers operate… [Read More]
Virginia
Cooperatives
man and woman stand next to each other with mountains in background

ReConnect Program Brings High-Speed Fiber Internet to Southeastern New Mexico

You might not expect to find high-speed internet in remote mountain areas with gravel roads, but you will soon find exactly that in southeastern New Mexico in the Peñasco Valley Telephone (PVT) Cooperative, Inc., service area.The large area that PVT covers is extremely rural.… [Read More]
New Mexico
BroadbandCooperativesHigh Speed Internet
Rural fire station with trucks visible in five open bays.

Rural Ohio Community Celebrates New Public Works Complex

Community members from Washington Township (OH) near Mansfield gather to celebrate the ribbon cutting on their new Fire Station and Road Department Facility. USDA Photo Washington Township, Ohio, rests among rolling hills and farmlands… [Read More]
Ohio
Community Facilities
Lori Bonifay in front of her home

Building Dreams, Changing Lives: Lori Bonifay’s Journey to Homeownership

GREATFALLS, Mont., Oct. 27, 2024 – At the heart of Montana’s rural communities, USDA Rural Development, Montana is empowering individuals and families to transform their lives through programs like the Self-Help Housing 502 Direct Home Ownership Program. One such success story… [Read More]
Montana
Homeownership
Beau Barkley, Director of Creative & Brand Partnerships, and Tyler Sasse, Founder & Owner of Western Welding Academy, stand in front of the elite welding school that recruits students from around the country.

USDA Rural Development - Fulfilling a National Demand, One Welder at a Time

A nationwide shortage of welders is plaguing the United States. In response to this reality, Tyler Sasse made the decision to develop an elite, competitive welding school in 2019. Western Welding Academy was founded in Gillette, Wyoming, a community historically associated with… [Read More]
Wyoming
Business
Richard Perkoski (left), owner of Main Street Milk LLC, Bob Morgan (middle), state director of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development in Pennsylvania, and USDA Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Xochitl Torres Small, speak to a small crowd at the Main Street Milk Farm in Somerset, Pa., on Nov. 3, 2024.

‘We’re making energy’: Somerset farmer sees success with solar

Richard Perkoski (left), owner of Main Street Milk LLC, Bob Morgan (middle), state director of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development in Pennsylvania, and USDA Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Xochitl Torres Small (right… [Read More]
Pennsylvania
Solar Energy

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