NEWS
RELEASE
United States Department
of Agriculture • Rural Development
3001 Coolidge Rd. • 2nd Floor North • Suite 200 • East Lansing, MI 48823
Phone: (517) 324-5204 • Fax: (517) 324-5225 •
alec.lloyd@mi.usda.gov
USDA ANNOUNCES THAT APPLICATIONS ARE BEING ACCEPTED FOR PUBLIC TELEVISION DIGITAL GRANTS
WASHINGTON, November 21, 2008 – USDA Rural Development Under Secretary Thomas C. Dorr today announced that applications are being accepted under the Public Television Digital Transition Grant Program for Fiscal Year 2009.
“Public television stations are a gateway to rural communities, providing local news, emergency and educational programming,” Dorr said. “This program enables rural citizens to continue to benefit from the programs offered through their local public broadcasting stations.”
Grants may be made available to public television stations serving rural areas, regardless of whether urban areas are additionally served. A public television station is a noncommercial educational television broadcast station that is qualified for Community Service Grants by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
USDA Rural Development is issuing this notice prior to passage of a final appropriations bill, which may or may not provide funding for this program, to allow applicants sufficient time to leverage financing and submit applications.
The deadline for completed applications is February 18, 2009. Application guides and materials may be obtained electronically at http://www.usda.gov/rus/telecom/. Call (202) 690-4493 to request paper copies of application guides and materials. For additional information see the November 20 Federal Register, page 70311.
USDA Rural Development’s mission is to increase economic opportunity and improve the quality of life for rural residents. Rural Development has invested more than $111 billion since 2001 for equity and technical assistance to finance and foster growth in homeownership, business development, and critical community and technology infrastructure. More than 2 million jobs have been created or saved through these investments. Further information on rural programs is available at a local USDA Rural Development office or by visiting USDA Rural Development’s web site at http://www.rurdev.usda.gov.
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