“Every Kansan deserves clean water and a safe place to live.,” Davis said. “USDA Rural Development is proud to assist in projects that help rural Kansas communities meet the needs of their residents and businesses.”
Background:
The Rural Business Development Grant program is designed to provide technical assistance and training for small rural businesses. Small means that the business has fewer than 50 new workers and less than $1 million in gross revenue.
The Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant program provides funding for clean and reliable drinking water systems, sanitary sewage disposal, sanitary solid waste disposal, and storm water drainage. The program serves people and businesses in eligible rural areas with populations of 10,000 or less.
The Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant program provides funding for essential community facilities and services. More than 100 types of projects are eligible for Community Facilities 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 SEARCH-Special Evaluation and Assistance for Rural Communities and Households program helps very small, financially distressed rural communities with predevelopment feasibility studies, design and technical assistance on proposed water and waste disposal projects.
The Water and Waste Disposal Predevelopment Planning Grant program assists low-income communities with initial planning and development of applications for USDA Rural Development Water and Waste Disposal direct loan/grant and loan guarantee programs.
Project details of today’s eight announcements are:
- A $90,000 grant will assist Tabor College in creating the Central Kansas Entrepreneurship Center (CKEC). The center will provide support for small businesses including marketing, pitch development, operations and management, finance and accounting and will be located on the Tabor campus in Hillsboro. It is anticipated 46 full time jobs will be created.
- A $50,000 grant will assist in purchasing a fire truck on behalf of the Almena Rural Fire Department. A new brush fire truck will provide fire protection throughout Norton County and, when needed, to surrounding counties and southern Nebraska.
- A $47,200 grant will help purchase a fully equipped vehicle and other equipment for the City of Neodesha law enforcement department. Funds from this project will provide rural residents with new and improved public safety services.
- A $29,000 grant will be used to prepare an engineering evaluation for the City of Blue Mound's water system. The city needs an evaluation of their water facility and distribution system to determine what improvements are needed to mitigate line breaks. With this evaluation the city will be able to plan future water system improvements.
- A $1,640,000 loan and a $995,000 grant will help complete improvements to the City of Hiawatha's wastewater collection system. This project will upgrade the system’s ability to process wastewater and make needed improvements to the north lift station.
- A $143,000 loan and a $661,000 grant will help complete the first phase of improvements to the City of Vermillion's water system. The city previously received $1,279,000 in grants and a $272,000 loan for the project.
- A $900,000 loan will help complete the rehabilitation of the existing water treatment plant for Rural Water District 4 in Bourbon County. Previous funds for the project included $488,000 applicant contribution from the Rural Water District and a $2,772,000 loan from Rural Development in 2020.
- A $312,000 loan and a $650,000 grant will make improvements to the water distribution system of the City of Fulton. Improvements will include replacing the original water distribution system, meter assemblies, valves and fire hydrants. The city received a $15,000 grant in Aug. 2019, from Rural Development via the Special Evaluation Assistance for Rural Communities and Households Grant to complete a Preliminary Engineering Report.
To learn more about investment resources for rural areas, contact a USDA Rural Development state office.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. USDA is building more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets, new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food, investing in infrastructure and clean energy in rural America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov. If you would like to subscribe to USDA Rural Development updates, visit our GovDelivery subscriber page.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender.
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