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Success Stories

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PA Business Installs Solar Panel With REAP Funding

REAP Funding Helps Pennsylvania Business Go Solar

Three Rivers Farm helps bring fresh, locally grown produce to the marketplace in a sustainable way. Nathan Holmes is the owner and founder of the business and knew early on that he wanted to help local farmers while fueling economic development in his community. As a Pittsburgh… [Read More]
03.23.2023
finnriver coowners photo by james curtis. Three people smiling in front of fermenting equipment and bottles.

Sustainability at the Core

For many, apples are a sweet addition to a balanced diet. For Eric Jorgensen, one of the founders of Finnriver Farm & Cidery, apples are a way of life. Jorgensen and his partners started their small organic fruit and vegetable farm in Chimacum, Washington, on the state’s… [Read More]
03.15.2023
Fulton Business Solar Panels

Going Solar in Fulton

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]
02.08.2023
Image of Luther College

Luther Center Helps Local Businesses Go Solar

The Luther College’s Center for Sustainable Communities is working to improve local economies in the Midwest with the help of a Rural Energy for America Program Renewable Energy Systems & Energy Efficiency Improvement Guaranteed Grant (REAP). When the two investor-owned… [Read More]
02.08.2023
Webb Farm Solar

Humboldt Community REAPs the Benefit of Webb Farm Solar

Located in rural Humboldt, Tennessee, Mr. Aaron Webb of Webb Farm Solar Systems Inc., owns and operates a minority owned solar farm. This farm has been in operation since 2012, with Photo-Voltaic (PV) Solar Systems on several farm properties.  It was in 2019, when Webb walked… [Read More]
01.11.2023
Solar panels being installed

Home repair loan helps family drastically cut electric bills

Keeping the electric on was crippling Toni and his family. Electric bills ranging from $300-$600 per month ate up the majority of the family’s fixed income. HOMES Inc., one of  Rural Development’s strong housing partners in Eastern Kentucky, led a project combining funding… [Read More]
12.15.2021
The Astoria Co-op installed rooftop solar panels to offset its energy use.

Rural Co-op Shines a Light on the Benefits of Solar Energy

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]
06.03.2021
Solar Array

Practicing Sustainability on the Eastern Edge of Glacier National Park

In 2017, after years of planning, Sanford and Claire Stone realized their dream and broke ground on Park Cabin Company in Babb, Mont., an unincorporated farming and ranching community in Glacier County. Their modern cabins are located on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and… [Read More]
05.19.2021

New Solar Array Helps Brewery Keep The Lights On

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]
04.22.2021
Bruce Hanna, owner of Hampton Inn and Suites Roseburg, visits solar panels recently installed on hotel roof.

Rural Hotel Reaps Benefits of Going Green

Guests at most hotels never give a second thought to the roof of the building. But at the Hampton Inn and Suites in the rural town of Roseburg, owner Bruce Hanna is encouraging his guests to learn about the significant environmental impacts being generated out of sight on the… [Read More]
10.18.2019