**NOTICE** USDA Rural Development has received reports of suspicious communications regarding Section 504 Home Repair program funding approvals and project work. These contacts are not legitimate. If you receive a questionable call or letter regarding a RD home loan or home repair assistance, do not follow the instructions. Call us at 1-800-414-1226 to speak to a representative. Contact your local authorities if you suspect you have been a victim of identity fraud. 

Whether we like it or not, orange barrel season is right around the corner in Wisconsin. Roads across the state will soon come under construction and orange barrels will pop up like bulbs in the garden.

Since 1869, the Noble Center United Methodist Church stood on a hill at the corner of Highway 71 and Victoria Road in Noble Township, Cass County, Iowa. Four years ago, the last remaining members gathered.

West River Electric Association, based in Wall, S.D. has been delivering power to the counties of Haakon, Jackson, Meade, Pennington, Oglala Lakota, and Ziebach in South Dakota since 1939. Their focus has always been on their customers, who are also their members, and recent upgrades have made that even easier, thanks to ‘Smart Grid’ technologies added to the electric grid.

Dinner plates in Billings, Montana, will have more leafy greens thanks to a family-owned farm and grant from USDA Rural Development.

Taking its name from family and honoring its deep Montana history, Swanky Roots is a year-round aquaponics greenhouse specializing in organically grown mixed lettuce, produce, vegetables, and herbs which they sell to consumers, local restaurants, and retailers in southeastern Montana.

"Everyone loves lettuce, and there is so much need for more produce in town,” said Swanky Roots' owner Veronnaka Evenson.

JAMESTOWN, N.D. Feb. 15, 2024 – “Grow as a person. Grow as a professional.” These are the words that immediately greet you when visiting the website of the University of Jamestown where a small but committed entrepreneurial center nestled on its North Dakota campus helps those words ring true well beyond the college walls that house it.

Whitesville Rural Volunteer Fire Department has received $3,300,000 through the USDA Community Facilities Direct Loan & Grant Program to construct the new Cane Bay Fire Station in Berkeley County's Cane Bay community. Berkeley County, known for its rapid growth, houses over 10,000 residents in Cane Bay, along with multiple educational institutions, dining venues, shopping centers, and the Cane Bay YMCA.

Things were a lot different when Preston Mitchell started his business 18 years ago. That year he sold three thousand dollars of green chile. Also, he was only 15 years old when he started his business. The next year he sold thirty-five thousand dollars of Hatch chile. Since then, his business has continued to grow every year.

Today he has 30 to 40 employees working for him manufacturing various chile products, from chile rellenos to frozen green chile. During harvest time the number of employees nearly doubles.

For the people of Glasgow, Kentucky, a collaboration between T.J. Community Mission Foundation, the city, Farmers Rural Electric Cooperative, and USDA Rural Development helped to meet a critical need in the community. In 2020, the city was able to open its first hospice center and ultimately provide patients with compassionate and quality care.