Banks: USDA agency strives to help rural Kansas grow

12:44 a.m.
7/21/2002

By Chuck Banks
Special to the Capital-Journal 

Providing a safe and abundant water supply; improving housing for rural residents; assisting fire and emergency management services in securing essential equipment; and partnering with individuals to create or retain needed jobs for Kansas. These are just a few of the many success stories of USDA Rural Development.

Assisting the residents of rural America in the advancement of sustainable communities and improving their quality of life is the objective of USDA Rural Development. Through Rural Development’s housing programs, individuals are helped with buying, building, or renting housing. Rural Development’s business and cooperative programs create jobs by funding the growth and creation of rural businesses and cooperatives. Other Rural Development programs help rural communities build or improve schools, health clinics, fire stations, and other community facilities. Rural Development also has programs that help rural communities with infrastructure projects; building or extending utilities such as water, electricity and telecommunications.

During the last three years, Rural Development has assisted Kansas rural residents, businesses and communities with over $272 million in funding dollars. These funding dollars helped 2,926 rural families realize their dream of homeownership. Over 68,000 rural Kansans were able to enjoy clean, abundant, and reliable water. Funding provided to rural businesses ensured the creation or retention of 900 Kansas jobs.

The City of Parsons was devastated by a tornado in April 2000. Nearly 100 homes were destroyed in this small town of 12,000 residents. Parsons was declared a federal disaster area, making it eligible for additional federal loans and grants to provided housing and other vital needs and services for its residents.

Rural Development partnered with the Kansas Department of Housing and Commerce, the City of Parsons, the Parson Community Foundation, and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka, and created affordable financing packages for the homeowners. So far, four homes have been funded by Rural Development in the new subdivisions. In addition to the homes funded by Rural Development, two additional homes have been built and another home is under construction. The new homeowners in the new neighborhood share a common bond in the excitement of owning their own homes.

Through Rural Development's Community Facility Loan and Grant program, the Northeast Kansas Community Action Program, Inc. was able to open the Holton Family Development Center. The City of Holton and the surrounding Jackson County areas were growing rapidly and the need for a quality daycare was becoming a concern for local parents. This facility took care of the day-to-day concern by providing a clean, new daycare equipped to handle up to 96 children as well as allowing for area children to continue participation in a Head Start program.

The 2002 Farm Bill reauthorizes and provides $1 BILLION in funding for rural development initiatives. Those include the Rural Development Backlog Program which funds applications for water and watershed programs (costing an estimated $360 million over 10 years); value-added market development grants which assist producer-owned value-added businesses ($240 million over 10 years); a program to provide broadband service to rural areas ($100 million over 10 years); Rural Strategic Investment Program which creates investment boards for economic development ($100 million over 10 years); rural local television signal loan guarantees ($80 million over 10 years); and grants to train rural fire fighters and emergency personnel ($50 million over 10 years).

Two of my goals while serving as State Director are to oversee the increased promotion of Rural Development programs and the enhancement of our partnering efforts with government agencies and the private sector. A significant need exists in rural Kansas for increased economic opportunities. We intend to proactively spread the word of our Agency’s loan and grant programs to the groups and individuals that could benefit most from these opportunities. This promotional effort can be further heightened through increased partnering with public and private entities across the State who share our interest in improving both the economic health and quality of life of our rural communities.

The mission of USDA Rural Development is to enhance the ability of rural communities to develop, to grow, and to improve their quality of life by targeting financial and technical resources in areas of greatest need through activities of greatest potential. With the assistance of our partners, we have made great strides in accomplishing our Agency’s mission. We look forward to continuing the important working relationship we share with our partners into the future.

For further information about the programs of USDA Rural Development, please visit our web site at: http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/ks/

Chuck Banks is the State Director of the USDA Rural Development - Kansas