MORGANTOWN, Feb. 29, 2024 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development West Virginia State Director Ryan Thorn today announced more than $1.3 million in funding to three projects to improve infrastructure and support rural small businesses.
“President Biden's Investing in America agenda is making the economy work for working West Virginia families,” Thorn said. “The investments I announced today demonstrate Rural Development’s commitment to ensuring that people who live and work in our rural communities will have every opportunity to succeed, build brighter futures, and not only survive but thrive for many generations to come.”
Rural Development is funding the following three projects totaling $1,315,753:
- Brunetti’s Italian Bakery in Wayne County will use a $150,753 Rural Energy for America Program Grant to buy and install a 167-kilowatt array that will save the business nearly $14,000 a year in energy costs.
- The Wayne County Building Commission will use a $1,087,000 Community Facilities Grant to expand and renovate the third-floor courtroom and adjacent offices of the Wayne County Courthouse. These improvements will include security and handicap accessibility improvements. Funding for this project was made possible through a Congressionally Directed Spending request.
- Rural Action Inc. will use a $78,000 Solid Waste Management Grant to help fund the Rural Action Ohio Valley Zero Waste Initiative, which encourages best practice use for waste management through recycling and composting in Wood and Cabell counties in West Virginia and in 10 counties in Ohio.
These investments are part of a larger national announcement made by USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack in North Carolina. In total, the USDA is funding 216 projects in 45 states, Puerto Rico, and the Northern Mariana Islands to bring high-speed internet, state-of-the-art infrastructure and economic growth to rural communities as part of President Biden's Investing in America agenda.
A full list of projects from the national announcement is available online.
USDA’s most recent Rural America at a Glance report, published in November 2023, signals that the Biden Administration’s investments in rural American infrastructure, jobs and overall recovery are working. Specifically, the report found that the rural population is growing after a decade of overall population loss, with growth of approximately a quarter percent from 2020 to 2022. It also showed that rural employment levels and annual growth rates have nearly returned to those seen in the years prior to the pandemic. The rural population is also experiencing a decline in poverty. In 2021, 9.7 percent fewer nonmetropolitan counties experienced persistent poverty (county-level poverty rates of 20 percent or higher over the last 30 years) compared with a decade earlier.
For more information about Rural Development in West Virginia, visit www.rd.usda.gov/wv or contact your local Rural Development office.
To subscribe to USDA Rural Development updates in West Virginia, visit our GovDelivery subscriber page
Rural Development Background
Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities, create jobs and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural, tribal and high-poverty areas. Visit the Rural Data Gateway to learn how and where these investments are impacting rural America.
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