Today’s Power, Inc. proposes to construct the 90-acre City of Clarksville Sun Cloud Solar Facility project.  It will be within the city of Clarksville, Johnson County, Arkansas, near the intersection of Massengale Road and W Country Club Road.

Just north of Interstate 10, and ninety minutes away from Pensacola to the west and Tallahassee to the east you’ll find Bonifay, Florida. This small community of 2,700 is the county seat for Holmes County, and like many other rural communities of its size, the people here are facing – and meeting – the economic challenges and realities of rural life.

One of the long-standing challenges in rural America is access to health care, and a small critical access facility in Bonifay is making a difference with a little help from USDA Rural Development.

Inspiring Journey to Homeownership

Meet Kaitlyn, a determined single mother from rural Louisiana whose dream of owning a home became a reality through the USDA Rural Development's Section 502 Direct Loan Program. Kaitlyn envisioned providing her son, Tyrin, with the comfort and stability of a home of their own after facing the unimaginable loss of her fiancé shortly before Tyrin's birth. Her dream then became even more poignant.

Dairy cows and sustainability have always been a part of Deidre Iciek’s life. As the oldest daughter of two veterinarians, she grew up around animals, large and small, from the time she was born. After high school, she majored in environmental studies at Michigan State University, and after college, she started work helping farms with manure and waste compliance and permits for their facilities.

When Ron Sportel’s grandfather started his celery farm in Comstock, Michigan, in 1918, he probably didn’t expect the family farm would sell flowers to big box stores across five states 100 years later.

Sportel’s father and uncle continued growing celery on the family farm until the 1960s, when they switched to selling flowers. In 1979, Ron Sportel purchased the farm from his father and uncle and expanded it to what it is today.

Kent County, Michigan, is the kind of place where everyone seems to know everyone. It is also the place where Jim Kober grew up helping on the family pig farm. His grandparents established the family farm originally as an apple orchard in the early 1900s.

“I grew up there and I know all the neighbors. Many of them I'm related to one way or another,” shared Kober, current owner of Alpine Pork. “My wife and kids think it's weird that I can drive 10 or 15 miles away from the farm and say, oh, that's a distant cousin or a kid I grew up with.”

Sustainability may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about hog farms, but for Arrow Farms in Scotts, Michigan, it is a part of their business model. Jarred Lorenz, Arrow Farms owner and H&H Farms general manager of hog operations, views hog production as the most sustainable protein in the world.

“Sustainability is a huge story for us,” said Jarred Lorenz. “We not only have manure going on the ground, the ground growing corn, corn going into pigs, pigs going into the food chain, and manure going back into the ground, now we put in the energy portion.”

To check eligible areas for Business Programs, Community Facilities, and Water and Environmental Programs, view the program eligibility look-up map: Puerto Rico Eligibility Map (arcgis.com)

Rural Housing, Community Facilities, Business & Cooperative Programs Fax: (855) 523-9680

To check eligible areas for Business Programs, Community Facilities, and Water and Environmental Programs, view the program eligibility look-up map: Puerto Rico Eligibility Map (arcgis.com)

Rural Housing, Community Facilities, Business & Cooperative Programs Fax: (855) 523-9680