Success Stories

Sandhills Honey Bottling Co, LLC, located near Anselmo, Nebraska, is a small family operation that started out as a hobby, then grew into a business officially opening in 2008 as a fully licensed honey processing, bottling and packing, and kitchen facility.  The business was growing to meet the… more

Abby Hargreaves dreamt for a long time of a house for her kids to call home.  She had rented housing in Morrill, Nebraska most of her adult life.  Abby’s homeownership journey began seven years ago when her daughter was born. The process for looking for a house started in Morrill. The housing… more

After living in a rental home for three and one-half years Holly McCance wanted more for her daughter, Destani and herself and that was a home of their own. Holly worked with a local Realtor to find a house that would meet her family’s needs.

The Gallatin Valley YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) has been operating without a recreational facility of its own since it started in 2002. The lack of a facility to call its own has limited the amount of programs the organization can offer to the Gallatin Valley.

For years, Butte Copper Company was known as a tourist stop. People traveling through Montana would stop there after visiting the “Richest Hill on Earth” and purchase various souvenirs. But since the 35 year old business was purchased by Millie Rigby and Machelle LeProwse earlier this year, the… more

An outdoor enthusiast, Judy Goodman would often prepare her own nutritious, high-energy trail bars for her outdoor excursions. In 2014, she launched a business making and selling artisan chocolate energy bars in Joseph in northeastern Oregon, a rural town rich with outdoor recreation… more

Jamie Tittel was born and raised in Riley, Kansas.  A small, rural town with less than a 1,000 residents.  Tittel continued to live in Riley after she graduated high school.  She had been renting a place, but had dreams of owning her own home someday. 

After becoming a mom, and seeing… more

   In June, USDA Ohio Rural Development employees from the Findlay Area office and state office traveled to Bellefontaine (Logan County) to help prime and paint a Habitat for Humanity home for Wayne Wells, his wife Deborah, and their teenage son, Levi. Construction on the home, funded through… more

Heather Trotter, a Des Moines native and mother of two very active young boys, always dreamed of raising her family in a smaller, rural community. 

Trotter recently accomplished this goal by using a USDA Rural Development home loan program to purchase a home in Mitchellville, a community… more

Meg Swanson and Jeff Ho have dreamed of utilizing solar energy to cover the utility costs at Spire Climbing Center since it opened its doors in December 2004. Since then, the climbing facility has gone through two large expansions, the most recent expansion tripling its size. The expansion not… more