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Success Stories

“This is Home” – A Family Finds Their Forever Home in Calais, Maine

One of the first rooms Heather Gagne and her daughters began redecorating in their new home is the dining room, shown in the top photo. They have been busy repainting and making other updates. Raising a family in coastal Machias, Maine may sound lovely, but for Heather Gagne recent years proved stressful. There were few housing options in the Downeast community, and Heather was glad to find a rental home to…

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Use the filters below to find additional stories about how our programs have helped rural communities across the nation.

Search Results: 32 Stories

Iconic Maine Farm Returns to its Solar Roots with REAP

Wood Prairie Family Farm (WPFF) is in the far northern town of Bridgewater, Maine, near the Canadian border. The farm is best known for its certified organic table potatoes and Maine certified seed potatoes (sold locally, online, and from a… [Read More]
Maine

Solar Project Provides Big Opportunities for a Rural Utah Farmer, Businessman, and Community Leader

Northern Utah’s Laketown is a rural community with a population of just 299 on the South end of Bear Lake. The area offers beautiful lake views, summer recreation, and miles of agriculture. Brandon Willis, owner of Rancher’s Insurance, provides agriculture insurance to farmers… [Read More]
Utah

Bringing Renewable Energy to Southeast Utah Using the Desert's Greatest Resource

The remote desert of Southeastern Utah brings a landscape like no other. While towering red rock mesas and sandstone cliffs provide amazing views you see very few people, and an abundance of sunshine. Southeast Utah’s San Juan County is the largest county in Utah, covering over… [Read More]
Utah

Marsh River Co-op Finds "the Easiest Way to Reduce Overhead Costs"

The Waldo County town of Brooks is located about half an hour from Belfast on the Penobscot Bay. It is a rural community with a population of about 1000 people. The store is located right downtown in a property that was recently donated… [Read More]
Maine

Fish Lake Valley is Making Clean Energy Upgrades to Minimize Electrical Outages

Valley Electric Association, a community-driven cooperative in Pahrump, Nevada, applied for a Powering Affordable Clean Energy (PACE) award to provide a solution during hot summer blackouts. Fish Lake Valley is a remote, primarily agricultural community served by a single-… [Read More]
Nevada

REAP Grant Helps Hotel Go 100 Percent Solar

While many companies build new hotels for efficiency, the Classic Desert Aire Hotel in Alamogordo, New Mexico, built in the 1950s, was not. Despite that, the hotel’s large roof recently offered an unexpected benefit for sustainability.“This property was built almost for solar —… [Read More]
New Mexico

Little Roaster Avoids a Big Stink with Clean Technology

Precipice Coffee is roasted in the company's small Ellsworth location using a zero-emissions Bellwether Coffee roaster, pictured here.  Early in the process of establishing their new coffee business, Maggie Iannuzzi and her husband… [Read More]
Maine

Sun Powers Production Next to World’s Largest Pistachio

When Thomas McGinn and his son, Tim, moved from Southern California to the desert of New Mexico in 1980, Thomas was looking for a change. He wanted to get back into farming and get out of his job working in food production for big factories.He purchased land for a farm and built… [Read More]
New Mexico

Solar Energy Helps New Farm on the Road to Financial Sustainability

Retired biochemist Gary Goodrich founded Replenova Farm in 2015, after decades spent growing healthy produce as a pastime. He had sold his Portland biotech company and was ready to dive into organic farming. In 2019 he purchased land and relocated the farm to Durham, Maine,… [Read More]
Maine

Empowering Coffee in Puerto Rico

Globally, more than a billion people count on coffee to power their day.  In rural Puerto Rico, USDA Rural Development is helping a small family-owned business power some of that coffee. Thanks to a $110,240 USDA Rural Development’s Rural Energy for America Program (… [Read More]
Puerto Rico