DORGAN ANNOUNCES $250,000 TO CONTINUE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN RURAL AREAS
Friday, July 11, 2008
CONTACT: Justin Kitsch
or Brenden Timpe
PHONE: 202-224-2551
(WASHINGTON, DC)—U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) announced today that he has secured $250,000 in federal funding for the continued advancement of two Rural Economic Area Partnership (REAP) zones in central and southwestern North Dakota.
The REAP Zone initiative, which Dorgan helped create in 1995, is aimed at promoting rural revitalization and community development. The program has since produced a trail of inspiring successes.
The $250,000 will support projects within two North Dakota REAP Zones and advance economic develop development within these rural areas. Dorgan, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, secured the funding as part of the Fiscal Year 2009 Financial Services Appropriations Bill. The bill goes next to the full Senate for consideration.
“This program does not claim to offer quick fixes. Instead it works with citizens to address the specific and unique problems that face rural communities in the 21st century,” said Dorgan. “I am glad to see REAP continue its valued work in North Dakota.”
The state has two REAP zones, CONAC and Southwest. The CONAC zone (Center of North America Coalition) includes McHenry, Bottineau, Rolette, Towner, Pierce and Benson counties as well as the Turtle Mountain Chippewa and Spirit Lake Sioux reservations. The Southwest zone includes Dunn, Stark, Hettinger, Adams, Bowman, Slope, Golden Valley, and Billings counties, and part of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.
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