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USDA Invests in Community Facilities Improvements Across Rural New York

Name
Christopher Stewart
City
Syracuse
Release Date

NY State Director for Rural Development, Richard Mayfield, today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is investing more than $3 million dollars across three communities in rural New York. This is part of a national announcement where the USDA is investing $172 million in 60 projects to improve community facilities and provide essential services for 3.3 million rural residents in 24 states.

   “These investments underscore USDA’s role in helping rural areas address their most important needs,” Mayfield said. “USDA partners with rural communities to help them finance infrastructure improvements, schools, health care facilities and other services that are essential to the quality of life. When rural America thrives, all of America thrives.”

   USDA is making the investments through the Community Facilities Direct Loan Program. Interested parties should contact their USDA Rural Development state office for information about additional funding, application procedures and eligibility details. Also see the Community Facilities Direct Loan Program Guidance Book for Applicants, a detailed overview of the application process.

   Here are a few examples of local investments:

  • Village of Clayton                             This Rural Development investment of $2,500,000 in loan funding will be used to bury utilities underground in the waterfront revitalization area. This includes power, telecom and fiber optics. This project is being done in coordination with the N.Y. Department of Transportation who will be re-surfacing the streets. This improvement will affect over 2,000 local residents while providing a safer, more consistent, overall utility design.

 

  • Livingston County EMS                  This Rural Development investment of $590,000 in loan funding will provide additional financing to expand the Livingston County Emergency Medical Services (LCEMS) Facility. With the 6,000 square foot addition, eight of the 12 county emergency vehicles will be provided with interior heated parking areas, thus allowing the diesel fueled vehicles to be relied upon in cold weather emergency situations. They will have the ability to hold various training and educational workshops. The building will have a positive impact on the county's homeland security initiatives as well. The LCEMS is located in the town of Groveland, which is in Livingston County N.Y. and provides emergency pre-hospital medical services to all of Livingston County which includes several targeted persistent-poverty communities. 

 

  • East Shelby Volunteer Fire              This Rural Development investment of $180,000 in loan funding and $20,000 in grant funding will be used to purchase a new pumper truck and rescue vehicle to replace those that are beyond their useful life. This project serves the towns of Shelby and Barre in Orleans County, N.Y.

   More than 100 types of projects are eligible for Community Facilities program funding. Eligible applicants include municipalities, public bodies, nonprofit organizations and federally recognized Native American tribes. Projects must be in rural areas with a population of 20,000 or less.

   The investments announced today are in Alabama, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia. USDA had $2.8 billion available for Community Facilities direct loans and grants in fiscal year 2019. USDA will make additional funding announcements in coming weeks.

   USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities and create jobs 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 areas. For more information, visit www.rd.usda.gov.

   In April 2017, President Donald J. Trump established the Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity to identify legislative, regulatory and policy changes that could promote agriculture and prosperity in rural communities. In January 2018, Secretary Perdue presented the Task Force’s findings to President Trump. These findings included 31 recommendations to align the federal government with state, local and tribal governments to take advantage of opportunities that exist in rural America. Increasing investments in rural infrastructure is a cornerstone recommendation of the task force.

   To view the report in its entirety, please view the Report to the President of the United States from the Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity (PDF, 5.4 MB). In addition, to view the categories of the recommendations, please view the Rural Prosperity infographic (PDF, 190 KB).