Development Aid for Rural Areas Announced

September 8, 2000

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman has announced $8.9 million in USDA loans to help small businesses in rural areas in 10 states. The loans will be made to local economic development agencies, which, in turn, will use the money for revolving loan funds to help start or expand businesses or for community development projects.

"Many of the recipients of these funds have established excellent track records as successful incubators of rural businesses that create jobs in areas that need them most," Glickman said. "These loans will funnel critically needed capital into rural communities where it can do the most good. Because these are revolving loan funds, this money will turn over again and again, contributing to the ongoing growth and prosperity of rural communities long after the first loans are paid back."

Glickman awarded a $750,000 loan to the Aliquippa Alliance for Unity and Development in rural Pennsylvania, which will support business growth and job creation in rural Beaver and Lawrence Counties. These counties have lost thousands of jobs and are losing population in the wake of steel mill closures and other major shifts in industrial production.

A complete list of the loan amounts and recipients follows and can be found on the web at http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/busp/irp.htm