The Rural Development is a rural development mission area of the United States Department of Agriculture. This is a grant only program of Rural Development used to promote sustainable economic development in rural communities with exceptional needs. This is accomplished by making grants to organizations to provide for economic development planning, technical assistance or training. Rural areas include all territory of the state that is not within the outer boundary of any city having a population of 10,000 or more.

WHO MAY RECEIVE GRANTS

These grants can be made to a public body, nonprofit corporation, Indian tribe or cooperative with members that are primarily rural residents. The applicant must have sufficient expertise in the activities they propose to carry out with the grant funds and financial strength to ensure they can accomplish the objectives of the proposed grant.

The statutory limit is 1.5 million but the size of grants approved is limited by the amount of program funds available.  Normally, grants will not exceed $50,000.

Grant funds may be used to pay costs of providing economic planning for rural communities,

technical assistance for rural businesses or training for rural entrepreneurs or economic development officials.

The applicant must be able to show that the funding will result in economic development of a rural area. The application must include a basis for determining the success or failure of the project and assessing its impact.

Applications will be scored and ranked for funding based on Rural Development established priorities relating to the sustainability and quality of the economic activity expected to result from the project; the extent to which the project is critical to a larger overall project; economic conditions in the service area, such as recent loss of a major employer, long-term job deterioration, poverty or population decline; and the project’s usefulness as a new best practice.

Application should be made at the Rural Development Area Office. The Area Office staff will be glad to discuss services available from the Rural Development and explain how to prepare a written application.  To find the Area Office serving your county, click here.