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USDA Official Highlights Investments to Improve Health Care and Create Jobs in Rural Iowa

Name
Darin Leach
City
Story City
Release Date

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Under Secretary Lisa Mensah today toured four central Iowa communities to see how more than $26 million in USDA funding is helping improve health care options and create jobs in rural Iowa.

“We are proud to serve the needs of rural residents and businesses here in Iowa and across the country to ensure rural America continues to thrive and drive the economy,” Mensah said. “It is with great pleasure that we partner with these communities as they work hard to make important investments, such as providing improved health care options.”

Mensah’s first stop during her rural Iowa tour was at Bethany Life in Story City which used a $22.5 million USDA Rural Development direct loan and $3 million loan guarantee to assist with a nearly completed facility-improvement project.

The renovation and expansion project included the demolition of a 50-year-old building, the construction of two new buildings for transitional care and extended care services, and significant updates to other facilities on the campus.

Bethany Life offers a full continuum of care for older adults including at-home wellness and education, skilled care, assisted living, independent living and long-term care.

Mensah then visited with staff at Mid-Iowa Community Action, Inc. in Marshalltown. Last year, the organization was selected as one of 10 rural and tribal communities to participate in the Rural IMPACT Demonstration, a cross-agency effort to combat poverty and improve upward mobility in rural and tribal places. This program was launched by the White House Rural Council which is chaired by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack

During her tour Mensah also announced that eight projects in rural Iowa are receiving a total of $300,000 in Rural Business Development Grants.  This program provide targeted technical assistance, training and other activities to assist with the development or expansion of small and emerging businesses in rural America. She made this announcement during a visit of Natural Soy in Brooklyn, one of the communities assisted by the Iowa Foundation for Microenterprise & Community Vitality (see project details below).

Projects receiving RBDG funding include:

  • Buchanan County – $8,850 grant to fund a county housing needs assessment study

  • City of Calmar – $48,393 grant to fund engineering and design work for a new business park

  • Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque – $48,037 to provide community development training and technical assistance to local leaders

  • City of Decorah – $11,500 grant to fund a feasibility study of a fiber-optic broadband infrastructure within Decorah. 

  • Estherville Industrial Development Corporation – $50,000 grant to provide technical assistance and training to small business enterprises in Emmet County

  • Iowa Foundation for Microenterprise & Community Vitality – $99,000 grant to support entrepreneurial business development in eight communities across Iowa

  • Resource Conservation and Development for Northeast Iowa, Inc. – $9,650 grant to provide business leadership training within the Turkey River Recreational Corridor

  • Winneshiek County Agricultural Extension District – $24,570 grant to provide management and food safety training to locally grown food businesses

Mensah’s last stop was in Grinnell where she toured Grinnell Regional Medical Center.  In 2015, USDA Rural Development awarded a $300,000 rural economic development grant to T.I.P. Rural Electric Cooperative of Brooklyn.  The funds assisted with renovations at the hospital.

USDA Rural Development’s funding continues to have a dramatic impact on rural communities across Iowa. Since 2009, USDA Rural Development has invested more than $4 billion on essential public facilities, small and emerging businesses, water and sewer systems, and housing opportunities for Iowa families.

This past year USDA Rural Development’s assistance in Iowa helped create or retain more than 1,000 jobs, aided 2,400 families in buying their own homes and assisted more than 60 communities as they made improvements to their facilities, services and infrastructure. 

“We are proud to serve the needs of rural people and places to ensure that rural America continues to thrive and to drive the economy,” Mensah added. “We are very happy to be a partner with all the communities we serve as they work hard to make investments that will impact many future generations.”

Contact USDA Rural Development

For more information about finance programs available through USDA Rural Development, please call (515) 284-4663 or visit the agency’s web site at www.rd.usda.gov/ia.

USDA Rural Development has 11 offices across the state to serve the 1.7 million Iowans living in rural communities and areas.  Office locations include a State Office in Des Moines, along with Area Offices in Albia, Atlantic, Humboldt, Indianola, Iowa Falls, Le Mars, Mount Pleasant, Storm Lake, Tipton and Waverly.

Since 2009, USDA’s Rural Development agency (@USDARD) has invested $11 billion across the country to start or expand 103,000 rural businesses; helped 1.1 million rural residents buy homes; funded nearly 7,000 community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care facilities; financed 185,000 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines; and helped bring high-speed Internet access to nearly 6 million rural residents and businesses. For more information, visit www.usda.gov/results.