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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: 888 Stories
Greens grow in rows in a vertical greenhouse.

Green energy: photovoltaic array powers growth of Alaskan produce business

During a good year, Alaska’s outdoor growing season is three months for most lettuces and herbs, so providing greens for a community year-round is a feat in itself. Doing so sustainably is another challenge entirely! In 2018, innovator Henry Krull and his family decided to… [Read More]
Alaska
BusinessEnergyLocal FoodsLocal ProduceREAPRenewable EnergyRural DevelopmentSmall BusinessSolar Energy

Stretched Thin: Volunteer First Responders get USDA Lift

The remote town of Dorothy, New Jersey, is made up of about 1,300 residents. It’s small, surrounded by miles of pineland, and traversed only by two-lane roads. It’s the kind of place where having a friendly neighbor could go a long way if you found yourself in a pinch.Lifetime… [Read More]
New Jersey
First Responders
Todd Spady stands next to a vehicle in his family business

Spady Buick Pontiac gets a Good Deal with REAP

Spady Buick Pontiac GMC, Inc. is a family business through and through.  Owner Todd Spady speaks fondly of learning the car business from his uncles and happily describes how his own children are involved in the business on the main throughfare in Holdrege, Nebraska. To… [Read More]
Nebraska
Small Business
Organic Valley pic; picture of father and daughter with cow

Good Things Come From Wisconsin’s ‘Valley’

What began as an organic produce pool of farmers in the Coulee region of southwest Wisconsin has grown to become a member of the Top 100 Agricultural Cooperatives, and the largest organic marketing cooperative when farmers wanted something different than the market had to offer… [Read More]
Wisconsin
Cooperatives
An aerial view of a glowing greenhouse at the Waupun Wastewater Treatment Facility.

From Your House to Greenhouse, Waupun Wastewater Facility Celebrates New, Advanced Technology

In May 2021, a groundbreaking was held at the Waupun Wastewater Treatment Facility to mark the start of construction on a new Advanced Biological Nutrient Recovery (ABNR) system. Roughly 140 days later, attendees of the 2023 Algae Biomass Summit, the largest gathering… [Read More]
Wisconsin
BioeconomyBiomassWastewaterWater
A visitor takes a closer look at produce in a cooler awaiting delivery

Small Farmers Think Big to Grow Markets for Southside Virginia Produce

Butterflies are primary pollinators for many vegetables and herbs, helping to ensure a good harvest on Virginia farms. The delicate wings that propel them from flower to flower can carry them many miles to transform the agricultural landscape.Though most closely associated with… [Read More]
Virginia
Cooperatives
Jen Young and Jessica Heesacker show off the Farm to Family Coop in Hay Springs, Nebraska

Farm to Family: A Labor of Love

In Hay Springs, Nebraska, customers stream into the Farm to Family cooperative grocery store. Kids in swimsuits looking for a snack, farmers grabbing a cold drink, and parents picking up the last items for dinner come and go from the little store on main street.This scene is the… [Read More]
Nebraska
BusinessCooperativesEnergySmall Business
Peony Cooperative in Alaska

Blooming Peonies in Alaska with the Cooperative Model

Each year in October, many cooperatives pause to celebrate National Cooperative Month.  This year, the theme “Owning our Identity” focuses on what makes a cooperative different from other businesses.  For the Alaska Peony Cooperative, the cooperative model was an… [Read More]
Alaska
Cooperatives
People cooking in the kitchen

Hope & Main Nourishes Neighbors in Warren, RI

Like most people in the service industry, Lisa Raiola of the Hope & Main (HM) food incubator in Warren, Rhode Island, had to reimagine her operation due to COVID’s devastating impacts. With a 30-year career focused on distributive justice, her first move tackled area food… [Read More]
Rhode Island
Local Foods
Katie Adkins, Plymouth Meats, LLC

Making Ends “Meat”: Woman-Owned Butchery Grows Local Foods Movement

Local butcher Katie Adkins suddenly found herself in high demand when New Englanders decided to take matters into their own hands to address a COVID-created food supply chain crisis. Residents started raising their own livestock on small family farms and were clamoring for local… [Read More]
Connecticut
Local Foods

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