"With Promise Zones we have been able to create jobs in areas that have been economically depressed."
- Shannon McDaniel, Executive Director of Agriculture Department of Oklahoma
Empowering Rural America
The Promise Zone Initiative helps hardworking communities succeed in areas of the U.S. where issues of long-term high poverty and high unemployment rates have historically limited job opportunities and access to education, healthcare and public safety for workers and their families. The Promise Zone designation creates a partnership in which locally-led solutions are supported by federal, state and private sector resources.
USDA currently supervises eight rural and Tribal Promise Zones:
Florida (Southwest)
Kentucky (Southeast)
North Dakota (Pride of Great Plains)
Oklahoma (Choctaw Nation)
South Carolina (Low Country)
South Dakota (Pine Ridge Indian Reservation)
Washington (Spokane Tribe of Indians)
Puerto Rico (Roosevelt Roads)
A federal liaison provides technical assistance to each Promise Zone to help designees navigate federal resources. Applicants in these Zones receive direct technical assistance from participating federal agencies and, in some cases, preferential consideration for certain competitive federal grant programs.
USDA, as the lead federal agency, helps local leadership in rural and Tribal Promise Zones marshal necessary resources, cut through bureaucratic tape and build capacity. Thanks to their focus and hard work, the impact of these partnerships is already evident.
In eastern Kentucky coal country, investments in education have created new opportunities for students to attend college and have supported much-needed mental health services. The Low Country of South Carolina is using more than $50 million in federal investments to boost private sector investments that support 21st Century jobs, from critical infrastructure to housing and regional food systems. In Oklahoma's Choctaw Nation, federal investments are attracting private sector investments to increase adult education opportunities, improve healthcare and expand housing. In North Dakota's Pine Ridge Promise Zone, local, state and private partners are developing critical water and infrastructure projects.
Announcements
USDA Rural Development approved a $263,384 Distance Learning and Telemedicine grant request to Choctaw Nation to help advance Choctaw language classes. The grant leverages $186,000 in funding from Choctaw Nation.
The National Endowment for the Arts is helping to create new opportunities by repatriating rare audio recordings of traditional Oglala Lakota sacred and secular music to the Oglala Sioux Tribe. The American Folklore Center is working with the Tribe to preserve and make this unusual resource more usable by digitizing the recordings.
The Department of the Treasury Community Development Financial Institutions Fund has helped capitalize a small business investment fund with more than $1.3 million managed by the Federation of Appalachian Housing Enterprises, Mountain Association for Community Economic Development and Redbud Financial Alternatives.
The Agricultural Marketing Service awarded $229,949 in Local Foods and Farmer's Market Promotion Program grants to the City of Pikeville in the Kentucky Highland Promise Zone to help farmers increase the market for locally and regionally grown food and increase access to healthy foods for local families.
Learn more about the Promise Zone communities below.
Choctaws break ground on 10 million dollar project
Choctaw Nation
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma was the first tribal Promise Zone selected in January 2014. Comprised of 11 counties,
Choctaw Nation is one of the oldest tribal communities in the United States, yet it suffers from poverty rates of nearly 52% in some areas.
Working hard as a united community, Choctaw Nation and its local partners, have secured close to $100 million in federal investments.
They have opened a new Community Center, a Food Distribution Center, and a Head Start program for their community.
They have also started a far-reaching effort to promote sustainable agriculture and food sovereignty.
Learn more about Choctaw Nation>>>
A Child at Letcher Market Co. in Kentucky celebrates his love for Local Food, Local Places, a new initiative in the Kentucky Promise Zone Region
Kentucky
The nation's first rural Promise Zone, the Kentucky Highlands region, is composed of eight counties in southeastern Kentucky.
An area heavily hit by job losses in the coal sector, this Kentucky region of 209,050 has nearly 32% of its population living below the poverty line and an unemployment rate of 11.21%. The counties of this Promise Zone designed a plan to yield measurable results in job creation, technological improvements, crime reduction, education and more. Thus far, Kentucky has received significant federal investments, including $23 million for hospital improvements that saved more than 200 jobs. Four of Southeastern Kentucky's main cities were also selected to participate in the Local Foods, Local Places initiative, to help them boost economic opportunities for local farmers and businesses. The Local Foods, Local Places program also improves access to healthy local food, and revitalizes traditional neighborhoods by supporting farmers' markets, food hubs, community gardens, community kitchens, and other kinds of local food enterprises. Learn more about Kentucky>>>
Nick Tilsen, the Executive Director of Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation, and local residents break ground on their community plan for the Pine Ridge Promise Zone including new housing, local markets, and more
Pine Ridge
The Pine Ridge Reservation is home to the Oglala Sioux tribe. With close to 35,000 residents, the Reservation, in partnership with the Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation, was selected as the second tribal zone in the nation. Since then, the reservation and Thunder Valley have worked hard to increase access to healthy and affordable food, reestablish food sovereignty in the region, and expand housing in the region where more than 49% of the population live in poverty. To achieve these goals, the community received a $375,000 Community Foods Program Grant (CFP) from USDA NIFA to construct green houses, raise poultry and increase access to local foods. Low-income children can now receive federally funded after school meals through the USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). And Pine Ridge has recently secured $2 million in grants and loans from the USDA to support water and sewer infrastructure projects to assist 45 homes in the region. There is still much to achieve, but the Pine Ridge Promise zone has a great vision for how they hope to grow and support the reservation in the years to come. Learn more about Pine Ridge>>>
Demetrius Brown, an employee of Carolina Visuals in Colleton County in the South Carolina Promise Zone. Job creation and private investment are huge goals for the region
South Carolina
The South Carolina Promise Zone serves six counties in the southern part of the state, known as the Low Country. Led by the Southern Carolina Regional Development Alliance, this Promise Zone has leveraged $50 million in federal investments with more than $400 million from the private sector. Local leaders are working with USDA, EDA and private partners to improve key infrastructure like broadband access, to rehabilitate sewer lines, upgrade water meter systems and repair water towers in the City of Walterboro and Hampton County. Since designation, the region has attracted more than $70 million in private investment, resulting in more than 100 new jobs. Learn more about South Carolina>>>
Spokane Tribe
In Washington State, the Spokane Indian Reservation Promise Zone includes all lands held in trust on behalf of the Spokane Tribe. The reservation suffers from high crime rates due to limited resources for tribal police, lack of quality affordable housing and scarce educational and employment opportunities. More than a quarter of all residents in the Promise Zone are unemployed. However, due to the hard work of the Tribe, the Promise Zone is creating opportunities not only for the Tribe but for the greater Spokane metro area. The Tribe is already working on drug addiction and suicide prevention with assistance from the Department of Health and Human Services. The Economic Development Authority (EDA) is working with the Tribe to generate additional commercial opportunities adjacent to a new privately funded $400 million casino project expected to create over 5,000 jobs in the region.
Pride of the Great Plains
The Pride of the Great Plains Promise Zone encompasses two reservations, Turtle Mountain and Spirit Lake, tribal trust/owned lands, and Rolette County, North Dakota. The geographic isolation of the zone compounds the many problems the area faces. In some areas, unemployment is as high as 70 percent, much of the region lacks affordable housing options, and nearly 40 percent of high-school students drop out before graduation. Despite the many challenges, local leaders have begun to make progress in tackling the many issues associated with persistent poverty. Turtle Mountain is working with USDA Rural Development to provide small business and agri-business workshops and entrepreneurship training. The goal of the project is to generate revenue through entrepreneurial activities selling home-grown and home-made products at local and regional farmers markets. Spirit Lake recently received an EDA award to fund a full-time Promise Zone Coordinator who will serve as the tribal point-of-contact to facilitate and hold strategic planning sessions to engage tribal and community members in the development of community and economic development activities. This work will result in more community engagement, investments in skills for future job opportunities, infrastructure investments and overall economic diversification of the Tribe.
Roosevelt Roads
Roosevelt Roads Puerto Rico, led by the Local Redevelopment Authority (LRA), includes families and businesses in three communities: Ceiba, Fajardo and Naguabo adjacent to the decommissioned Roosevelt Roads Naval Station. In some areas the poverty rates is as high as 58 percent and unemployment is more than 17 percent. Despite the region's formidable challenges, the LRA has outlined achievable goals to increase economic activity in the region, improve science and math education, create a prisoner reentry program and establish a regional food hub to grow business opportunities for the region's producers. USDA is already working with local leaders to improve water, waste disposal and other critical infrastructure to support jobs and healthy communities.
Southwest Florida
The Southwest Florida Promise Zone consists of Glades County, Hendry County, and Immokalee in Collier County, where chronic unemployment, persistent poverty and infrastructure deficiencies have been significant barriers to development. The poverty rate of the counties in the zone is as high as 61 percent in some areas. Led by the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council (SWFRPC), the Promise Zone has made significant progress, creating a regional task forces to address their infrastructure, job training and local business development needs. USDA is working with the Immokalee Foundation to support a food incubator to help local food entrepreneurs grow and expand locally-owned businesses.
request to Choctaw Nation to help advance Choctaw language classes. The grant leverages $186,000 in funding from Choctaw Nation.
