At White House Rural Forum, USDA Unveils New Funding to Support Rural Broadband and Economic Development

At the White House Rural Forum convened Oct 5 at Pennsylvania State University, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced $32 million in loans and grants that will promote economic development and provide access to broadband in more than 80 rural American communities. Sec Vilsack, who is chair of the first-ever White House Rural Council, convened the forum with rural policy, business and nonprofit leaders to discuss pertinent issues facing rural communities, including opportunities for economic growth and strategies for improving health care and housing. "This funding will provide much-needed capital and bring cutting-edge technology to rural communities across the country," Sec Vilsack said. "Investments in our rural businesses and communities, coupled with extending high-speed broadband, have led to a resurgence of economic development, created jobs and improved the quality of life in rural America. While we have made great progress, our work to extend capital and technology to rural America is not done." Some of the new investments include:

$3 Billion Invested in Rural Infrastructure Projects: In 2014, USDA launched a public-private partnership with Capitol Peak Asset Management and CoBank, a national cooperative bank and member of the Farm Credit System. Since 2014, more than $3 billion in private sector funding has been lent to over 400 financings of projects in the power, water, communications and community facilities industries.'
$7.7 Million in New Grants to Bring Broadband to 6 Unserved Communities: USDA's Community Connect program provides funding for broadband deployment into unserved areas. Since 2009, USDA Rural Development broadband programs have helped bring high-speed Internet access to nearly 6 million rural residents and businesses.'
Health Information Technology Investments: HHS's Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is investing approximately $36 million in rurally-located health centers to support strategic investments in Health Information Technology. The investments will help health centers enhance their health IT and better prepare providers and staff to use health IT and data.