USDA Rural Development State Director Bobby Goode today announced multiple Rural Energy for America Program projects in three Southeastern Tennessee counties. Rural Development funds will be used to assist farmers and rural small businesses in developing renewable energy systems and making energy-efficiency improvements to their operations.
"I applaud the efforts of farmers and small business owners looking at ways of improving the financial stability of their companies while limiting environmental impacts,” Goode said. “Their environmental-friendly efforts will produce clean, green energy as they serve their customers."
The three REAP project recipients announced and their respective counties are:
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Gregory S. Taylor, Marion County
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Dunlap Industries, Inc., Sequatchie County
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Russ Carmichael, McMinn County
Gregory Taylor is a poultry farmer with two poultry houses. A $20,000 REAP grant was used to install a 39.68 kW solar array to produce enough power for five households for a year.
Dunlap Industries, Inc., located in the Dunlap Industrial Park, received a $126,092 REAP grant to assist with the installation of a 258.85 kW solar array to be mounted on the roof of an existing building on the property.
Russ Carmichael owns a dairy farm in Riceville, Tenn. A $7,250 REAP grant will assist with the installment of a 14.1 kW solar array which is an expansion of the existing 35 kW solar array installed in 2013.
USDA Rural Development is moving investments to rural America with housing, business and infrastructure loans and grants to create jobs and strengthen rural economies with an emphasis to assist areas of persistent poverty. Since 2009, the agency has assisted more than 1.5 million Tennessee families and businesses in 230 communities in all 95 counties of Tennessee, investing more than $6.6 billion through affordable loans, loan guarantees, and grants.
For more information on USDA Rural Development programs available in Southeastern Tennessee contact the Chattanooga Area Office at 423-756-2239. Visit us online at www.rd.usda.gov/TN.