For people living in rural communities, the crucial need for connection to the online community can often be a hit-or-miss proposition. Modern goods and services of the information age have proven an essential part of everyday life for those who live in areas where a doctor’s appointment or run to the store can take up the entire day. Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom (NEK) is one of five national Rural Economic Area Partnership (REAP) zones, meaning it has Congressional recognition as economically underserved, and as a result, is eligible for special funding.

What makes a place what it is? Not just any place, but a good place? Somewhere people recognize, think about, talk about, hope for, travel through, travel to, work in, and live in? 

What makes a place what it is? Not just any place, but a good place? Somewhere people recognize, think about, talk about, hope for, travel through, travel to, work in, and live in? 

Final Environmental Assessment, Bluegrass Plains Solar Generating Facility – December 2024

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. 

For over 120 years, families have traveled to Herman, Minnesota, each summer to attend the Grant County Fair. Following a presidentially declared natural disaster two years ago, fairground officials turned to Rural Development to help restore one building to its former glory.

A few miles off the interstate, tucked in the middle of the state in Hightstown, New Jersey, the Tri-County Co-op Auction & Market stands as a daily testament to community spirit and agricultural dedication.

Over seventy-five years ago, a group of rural New Mexicans banded together to create Eastern New Mexico Rural Telephone Cooperative. The group wanted to provide telephone service to rural eastern New Mexico. The cooperative is now known as Plateau. Its cooperative area covers 25,000 square miles, over one-fifth of New Mexico’s land area.