USDA Rural Development State Director Colleen Landkamer today visited rural small business owner of Jubilee Fruits & Vegetables Judy Harder to celebrate her dedication to reducing her environmental footprint by implementing energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy systems into her recently completed commercial kitchen and marketplace.
“As more and more rural business owners and ag producers incorporate renewable energy and energy efficient measures into their business plans, the more they contribute to the economic sustainability of rural America,” Landkamer said. “REAP funding helps implement these energy-saving measures. These actions not only help them save on annual energy costs, but also reduce their environmental footprint.”
For three years, Jubilee Fruits and Vegetables had been operated out of Hardy’s home kitchen, basement, and garage. Due to the continued growth of the business, Mountain Lake city ordinances required Hardy to take the next step and move into a commercial location.
In 2015, the new 2,400 square feet commercial building celebrated its grand opening and now houses the farm market, commercial kitchen and has space to clean and store their produce – allowing the locals to ‘eat where their food lives.’
During construction, an outdoor wood gasification furnace with a combustion efficiency approaching 100% was installed and serves as the back-up heat source for the greenhouse, which is especially important when outside temperatures approach negative degrees in Fahrenheit and the climate battery is unable to keep up.
Additionally, an outdoor wood furnace was installed, in which the market area, kitchen, and packing shed rely solely on for heat and hot water needs. Finally, a central boiler geothermal system circulates underground heated water to the building, helping to heat the market floor and suspended space heaters in the greenhouse.
To help offset the costs of the unique “triple crown” project involving a geothermal boiler system, solar array, and biomass heating system, Jubilee was awarded a $23,344 grant through USDA Rural Development’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).
Congress created the REAP program in the 2002 Farm Bill. Due to the success of the program, Congress reauthorized it in the 2014 Farm Bill with guaranteed funding of at least $50 million annually for the duration of the five-year bill.
The 2014 Farm Bill builds on historic economic gains in rural America over the past seven years while achieving meaningful reform and billions of dollars in savings for taxpayers.
Users of the program are finding it to be helpful, especially in areas of the state with pockets of persistent poverty and underserved populations. For example, The Blue Line Travel Center, located off Highway 90 in Worthington, Minn., used a $47,000 REAP grant to replace all of its current lights with more energy-efficient LED lighting. The LED fixtures will be replaced within the interior and exterior of the facility as well as the electronic billboard and is projected to save the travel center over 60 percent (more than $33,000) in annual electrical costs.
Since 2009, REAP has helped finance 1,014 renewable energy and energy efficiency projects that have reduced energy costs for rural businesses statewide. During this period, USDA has provided almost $34 million in grants and $5 million in loan guarantees to agricultural producers and rural small business owners in rural communities throughout Minnesota.
USDA reminds eligible recipients that the department is accepting applications for future REAP funding. For application deadlines and details on how to apply, visit www.rd.usda.gov/mn, contact USDA Rural Development State Energy Coordinator for Minnesota Ron Omann at ron.omann@mn.usda.gov or (651) 602-7796, or see page 60349 of the October 6 Federal Register.
In addition to renewable energy and energy efficiency, USDA Rural Development also invests in local foods, housing, water and wastewater treatment, community facilities, and broadband. For example, the Value-Added Producer Grant Program (VAPG) supports rural small businesses and agricultural producers by financing activities related to the processing and/or marketing of bio-based, value-added products. The 2016 funding cycle is currently open; electronic applications are due by June 24, 2016 and paper applications are due July 1, 2016.
For more information on USDA Rural Development programs, please visit www.rd.usda.gov/mn and contact your local area office.