Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan visited the Utah Food Bank in Salt Lake City today, where she took a tour of the facility and helped assemble meal packets with USDA foods.  Merrigan highlighted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), and the ARRA funding that Utah Food Bank received in 2009 and 2010.

The Recovery Act supported the nation’s food banks, food pantries and soup kitchens, by increasing funding to USDA’s Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).

TEFAP helps supplement the diets of low-income Americans by providing them with emergency food and nutrition assistance at no cost.  USDA makes food available to State governments, which distributes it to their emergency feeding network and their affiliates, like Utah Food Bank.

Later in the day, Merrigan toured the construction site of a community health center in Logan, that will be an integral part of the health care network in Utah’s Cache Valley.  When it opens this summer, the Cache Valley Community Health Center will offer primary and urgent medical care, behavioral health services, dental care and a pharmacy.

The financing for this project was made available by Recovery Act funds through USDA’s Rural Development Community Facility (CF) program in the amount of a $2,100,000 loan.

Written by Orrin Evans, USDA Office of Communications

More information about USDA’s Recovery Act efforts is available at http://www.usda.gov/recovery.  Log on to USDA’s YouTube channel to view additional ARRA project highlights, videos are available at http://www.youtube.com/usda – g/c/2A468F5AC6EBCED7

With much of Mississippi located in rural areas and many of those rural areas lacking broadband access, it should be no surprise when USDA Rural Development’s Mississippi team chose to take extra initiative to make sure that Mississippi’s rural cities and counties take full advantage of the opportunities presented under the Recovery Act’s broadband funding.

And that is exactly what Mississippi’s State Director Trina N. George did when she hosted a Outreach and Training Workshop, held in Jackson on Tuesday, February 23^rd for Mississippi applicants for USDA Rural Development Broadband funding available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

“For rural Mississippi to get its fair share of broadband funds,” said State Director George, “we feel we must submit competitive and complete applications. This workshop was to help us achieve that goal.”

Earlier today, USDA announced that the Bay Springs Telephone Co.’s Bay Springs Broadband Initiatives Project would receive a $4.3 million loan and $4.1 million grant. The funding will expand advanced DSL broadband services to unserved and underserved areas within five counties Jasper, Jones, Rankin, Scott, and Smith.

The workshop was modeled after the outstanding ARRA broadband workshops that have been held across the country hosted jointly by USDA Rural Development and the U.S. Department of Commerce. Like those workshops, the Jackson event spotlighted USDA broadband funds available through the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP).

The workshop was a huge hit and underscored State Director George’s concentration on outreach in promoting USDA Rural Development programs and opportunities for rural Mississippi. The workshop was also attended by staff members for a number of Mississippi’s U.S. Congressional delegation, one of whom (a staff member for a U.S. Senator) remarked as she was leaving: “This event today was just great, and so informative. It is precisely what we need to get the word out about this opportunity. It is great to see the agency doing this kind of outreach event, because it will really help a lot of Mississippians.”

“USDA Rural Development has too many good programs to just keep them to ourselves,” said State Director George. “The more we spread the word, the more rural Mississippians will benefit. And thus, our work will always begin with outreach, including such events as this one. Regarding Recovery Act opportunities, this outreach is doubly important, as that window of opportunity will close later this year.”

State Director George would also like to commend her staff,  including Rural Community Programs Director Bettye Oliver, and Linda Stovall, Janis Nolan, Nicole Barnes, Patricia McDowell, and Nita Stringer on the program staff, for their professional work in putting the workshop together.

Written by Ken Stribling, USDA Rural Development-Mississippi