Success Stories

Mark and Linda Graf have a crew of over 400,000 bees in over 100 hives working for them near Emerson, Nebraska. The Buzz, their store on Main Street, sells local honey and related products.   The Grafs are shining examples of entrepreneurship in rural America. Linda describes… [Read More]

Fulton is a small town in Missouri and the largest city in Callaway County, with a population of about 13,000 people. But for many rural towns, identifying and securing solar incentives can be a challenge. RD’s Rural Energy for America Program Renewable Energy Systems &… [Read More]

Homegrown HideAways is more than just a farm. Located in the Appalachians of Berea, Kentucky, the 100-acre holler welcomes more than 2,000 guests per year and has more than a dozen listings on Airbnb. When Jessa Turner and her partner opened the center, they had plans of adding… [Read More]

Geoff Marietta found out just how expensive it can be to heat a 12,000-square-foot, 100-plus-year-old building. The building, located on the corner of 2nd and Main streets in downtown Corbin, Kentucky, sat vacant from 2005 until Marietta bought it in 2017. He immediately… [Read More]

For the people of Glasgow, Kentucky, collaborations between the local electric cooperative, USDA Rural Development and other county entities have helped meet critical needs in the community. The first partnership between Farmers RECC, their power supplier, East Kentucky Power… [Read More]

As USDA Rural Development (RD) highlights National Cooperative Month, one worker owned co-op in Massachusetts stands out as a model for sustainability, collaboration, and local food system resiliency. The saying goes “it’s not easy being green.” But for Real Pickles in… [Read More]

Many people have a passion for coffee. In fact, many of us cannot imagine starting our day without it. But for Pam and Jan Aggerbeck, owners of Cape Cod Coffee in Mashpee, Massachusetts, every cup of coffee is a part of their story of sustainability- And an opportunity to give… [Read More]

In the midst of the pandemic, while juggling work, civic leadership and homeschooling, friends Shawna Kelsey and Kristina Boyd decided to double down on their plans to launch Pink Bench Distilling in Troy, Montana.  In early 2020, they acquired a 100-year-old building from a… [Read More]

Sustainability has been a fundamental tenant of the food cooperative movement since it began, and not only in terms of selling organic, sustainably-harvested food. Co-ops around the country are also turning to renewable energy. For the Astoria Co-op on the Oregon coast, that… [Read More]

In rural Ord, Nebraska, Scratchtown Brewing Company, LLC is saving nearly 70 percent in energy costs thanks, in part, to a Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) renewable energy grant awarded in 2019 to purchase a new 24-kilowatt rooftop solar array. These renewable energy… [Read More]