Alexandria, Louisiana, February 1, 2017 — Today U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development (RD) released the Louisiana 2016 Progress Report. This report provides an overview of projects and the investment of nearly $882 million in Fiscal Year 2016.
“These investments are helping rural communities enhance the quality of living for people who desire to live and work in rural municipalities,” stated Lee A. Jones, Louisiana USDA RD Acting State Director. “This report also demonstrates what we can do to ‘grow a town from the ground’ to support economic development in areas of need.”
Here is a quick snapshot of some of RD’s accomplishments in 2016:
• Through RD’s Business and Cooperative Loan, Grant, and Technical Assistance Programs, the agency helped 58 rural small business owners by providing nearly $74 million to improve their establishments. These programs help to create and save jobs in rural communities.
• Through the Community Facilities Loan and Grant Programs, 31 loans and grants provided more than $79 million to communities to help build, expand, rehabilitate, purchase, and support the development of healthcare facilities, child care centers, schools, town halls, police and emergency fire stations and more.
• The Water & Waste Programs approved 18 loans totaling nearly $35 million to assist communities with essential services to provide clean drinking water and safe sanitary wastewater disposal systems.
• The Single Family Housing Programs invested nearly $638 million to help families buy, build, or repair homes.
• Through the Multi-Family Housing Program, more than $46 million in rental assistance was provided to support decent and affordable housing. Several housing complexes were renovated to make units safe and more efficient.
2016 was a successful year for RD and we will continue to keep the progress going. RD field staff can provide program information. Louisiana's RD Area Offices are located in Monroe (318)343-4467, Natchitoches (318)352-7100, Lafayette (337)262-6601,and Amite (985) 748-8751. Please visit www.rd.usda.gov/la for contact information or call (318)473.7920.