NEWS LINE
Compiled by Dan Campbell
USDA to award $23 million
for renewable energy projects
Agriculture Secretary Ann M.
Veneman announced in early May the
availability of approximately $23 million
in grants to support President Bush’s
energy plan to develop renewable energy
systems and promote energy efficiency
improvements. Veneman said
the Renewable Energy Systems and
Energy Efficiency Improvements program
was created as part of the 2002
Farm Bill to assist farmers, ranchers and
rural small businesses develop renewable
energy systems and make energy
efficiency improvements to their operations.
In 2003, the Bush administration
invested $21.7 million to assist 114
applicants from 24 states develop or
improve wind power, anaerobic
digester, solar, ethanol and other bioenergy
related systems or energy efficiency
improvements.
Applicants must be agricultural producers
or rural small businesses, U.S.
citizens or legal residents and have
demonstrated financial need. USDA
Rural Development grants may be used
to pay up to 25 percent of the eligible
project costs. Eligible projects include
those that derive energy from a wind,
solar, biomass or geothermal source, or
hydrogen derived from biomass or
water using wind, solar, or geothermal
energy sources.
Applications must be completed and
submitted with a postmark no later than
July 19, 2004. Detailed information
about program requirements and information
on how and where to apply is
included in the funding notice in the
May 5 Federal Register. Awards will be
made on a competitive basis for the
purchase of renewable energy systems
and to make energy improvements.
UW’s Ann Hoyt elected
NCBA board chair
Ann Hoyt, one of the nation’s most
respected and widely published experts
on cooperatives, has been elected to a
two-year term as board chair of the
National Cooperative Business
Association (NCBA). Hoyt is a professor
of consumer science at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison and a
senior faculty associate at the university’s
Center for Cooperatives. She teaches,
does research and develops training
materials for all types of cooperatives.
For more than two decades, Hoyt has
trained hundreds of cooperative directors
and managers for nonprofits. She
has also written widely on the history
and development prospects of consumer
cooperatives. Hoyt holds a Ph.D. from
Kansas State University and is currently
doing research on urban cooperative
development in the United States.
“Ann is extremely knowledgeable
and has led numerous other co-op
boards over the years,” NCBA
President & CEO Paul Hazen says.
“The depth of experience she brings to
NCBA will be a tremendous benefit
for us.” Hoyt succeeds Charles M.
Snyder, president and CEO of the
National Cooperative Bank.
Elected to replace Hoyt as 1st vice
chair was Steven Cunningham, president
and CEO of IMARK Group in
Oxon Hill, Md. Elected 2nd vice chair
was Andrew Brown, vice president for
industry and member relations of the
National Rural Telecommunications
Cooperative in Herndon, Va. Elected
secretary-treasurer was Kathy Brick,
senior vice president and chief financial
officer of U.S. Central Credit
Union in Lenexa, Kan. The only new
board member elected was Ruffin
Slater, general manager of the Weaver
Street Market, a worker-owned and
consumer-owned food cooperative in
Carrboro, N.C. Headquartered in
Washington, D.C., the 88-year-old
NCBA represents cooperatives across
all sectors of the economy, including
agriculture, food distribution and
retailing, childcare, credit unions,
housing, healthcare, energy and
telecommunications.
Wisconsin’s Co-op Care Program
finalist for prestigious award
Representing a major change in the
delivery of home care services,
Waushara County’s Cooperative Care
has been named one of 15 finalists for
the esteemed Innovations in
Government Award, a program of the
Ash Institute for Democratic
Governance and Innovation at
Harvard University’s Kennedy School
of Government. The program is now
eligible to win $100,000 in what is
often referred to as “the Oscars” of
government award programs.
The Waushara County Department
of Human Services facilitated development
of the co-op in 1999 in an effort
to strengthen and expand its home
care workforce by transferring management
of the service from the county
to the care providers. With guidance
from USDA Rural Development and
other organizations, the care providers
created a business plan reflecting their
wishes for decent pay and benefits.
Cooperative Care was officially
launched in 2001 by 52 workers who
voted to incorporate, paid dues and
elected a board of directors.
Today, with 84 members,
Cooperative Care is fulfilling the mission
of its founding members by providing
the county’s home care workers
with fair pay and benefits through a
business they democratically own and
operate themselves. The best aspect of
this program is that it gives this oncedisenfranchised
group of workers a
voice on the job.
Cooperative Care was one of nearly
1,000 applicants for the 2004
Innovations in American Government
Award. The committee will select five
winners, which will be announced on
July 28 at the Excellence in
Government 2004 Conference, in
Washington, D.C.
Co-ops eligible for
Value Added Grants
USDA Rural Development is providing
more than $13 million in federal
funds for the Value-Added Producer
Grant (VAPG) Program in 2004.
Eligible applicants include farmer and
rancher-owned cooperatives, independent
producers, agricultural producer
groups and majority-controlled producer-based business ventures.
Grants may be used for planning
activities and working capital for marketing
value-added agricultural products
and for farm-based renewable
energy. The maximum amount that
can be awarded is $500,000, and all
VAPG funds must be matched by an
equal amount of funds from the applicant
or a third party.
At press deadline for this magazine,
the announcement of fund availability
was scheduled to be published in late
May the Federal Register, website:
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.htm
l, and on the USDA program website:
http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/coops/
vadg.htm. Deadline for application is
45 days from the date of publication.
Farm Credit Bank of Texas
doubles earnings in 2003
The Farm Credit Bank of Texas
(FCBT), a $7.4 billion wholesale
lender, today reported strong earnings
for 2003 and one of the largest patronage
distributions in the bank’s 87-year
history. Bank net income of $64.8 million
for 2003 was nearly double the
previous year’s income of $32.5 million,
due largely to the sale of the
bank’s mineral rights holdings in
November 2003 a one-time event.
These strong earnings allowed the
FCBT to declare $50.8 million in
patronage distributions last year to its
stockholders 22 rural financing
cooperatives in Alabama, Louisiana,
Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas.
These lending associations provide
loans and financial services to agricultural
producers, agribusinesses, country
homeowners and other rural
landowners.
“We are extremely pleased that we
were able to share our success with our
stockholders, who are also our customers,
by paying them a substantial
patronage on our earnings. That is our
way of reducing their effective net cost
of borrowing, and it is the single greatest
advantage of doing business with a
cooperatively owned bank,” says bank
CEO Larry Doyle.
The bank’s gross loan volume of
$5.8 billion at Dec. 31, 2003, reflected
a modest $8 million increase from
Dec. 31, 2002. This figure was impacted
by the bank’s sale of $300 million in
participations in its direct notes from
associations in November 2003. The
Texas bank is part of the nationwide
Farm Credit System, which reported
combined net income of $1.82 billion
for the year ended Dec. 31, 2003, as
compared with combined net income
of $1.773 billion for the prior year.
ACDI/VOCA’s Deegan resigns
Michael Deegan announced his
immediate resignation on April 29 as
president and CEO of ACDI/VOCA.
Deegan said he plans to pursue other
career opportunities. The
ACDI/VOCA board immediately
launched a search for a replacement.
Don Crane, executive vice president of
ACDI/VOCA, will carry out the dayto-day chief executive functions until
an interim president is appointed.
During Deegan’s eight-year tenure
as ACDI/VOCA president, the organization
experienced unprecedented
growth and success in its development
operations worldwide, Crane noted.
ACDI/VOCA, headquartered in
Washington, D.C., is a private, nonprofit
organization which promotes
broad-based economic growth and the
development of civil society in emerging
democracies and developing countries
(see page 37).
New logo adopted for
California Tree Fruit
The California Tree Fruit
Agreement (CTFA) has approved a
new logo for use in the marketing of
fresh California peaches, plums and
nectarines. “The new logo is designed
specifically to promote California
peaches, plums and nectarines and
communicates images of sunshine and
health that are associated with these
fruits,” said CTFA President Blair
Richardson. He said the old logo
which depicted a tree illuminated with
sun rays seemed to work better at
promoting the organization rather
than the fruit.
“First and foremost, CTFA exists to
promote our growers’ fruit and is not
an organization that promotes itself,”
Richardson said. He noted that the
new logo will be used in both trade
and consumer marketing efforts and
will appear on new point-of-sale materials
being developed for the 2004 season.
Initially, the logo will be printed
with the words “peaches, plums, nectarines.”
“Eventually, we expect that
the logo will stand on its own without
the need for these tag lines,”
Richardson said.
Forum for Dairy Women
slated in Madison, Sept. 26-27
The 2nd International Forum for
Women in Dairying (IFWD) will be
held Sept. 26-27 in Madison, Wis. The
forum strives to enrich the lives of global
dairy women by encouraging them to
share challenges and contributions to
the industry and to provide a venue to
learn, network and be inspired.
Jackie Pflug, who survived an airline
terrorist attack, will give the forum’s
keynote address, sharing how we can
become peak performers through our
attitude and reaction to change, adversity
and challenge. A full program can
be found at www.world-dairyexpo.
com. For a registration packet,
contact Marlene Schmidt, World
Dairy Expo visitor services manager, at
(608) 224-6455 or mschmidt@wdexpo.
com.
USDA awards $385 million
for rural electric expansion
Agriculture Secretary Ann M.
Veneman in March announced 28 rural
electric guaranteed loans totaling nearly
$385.6 million to expand rural electric
infrastructure in 16 states.
“Expansion of rural infrastructure is a
first step in opening the door for
expanded rural economic development
and improved quality of life for rural
residents,” said Veneman. “These projects
will serve 62,980 future customers,
build 4,300 miles of new line and fund
general system-wide modernization.”
Through USDA Rural
Development’s utilities program, loans
and loan guarantees are made to
finance the construction or replacement
of electric transmission and generation
facilities. In fiscal year 2003,
the Bush administration invested over
$6.3 billion in grants, loans and loan
guarantees to support the development
and/or improvements to rural electric,
telephone and water/wastewater infrastructure
that will help to create or
save an estimated 150,000 jobs.
The loans announced today include
25 distribution projects and three
transmission and generation ventures.
A complete list of the loan recipients
can be viewed at USDA Rural
Development’s website at: www.rurdev.
usda.gov.
USDA announces $190 million
in high-speed internet loans
Agriculture Secretary Ann M.
Veneman in early May announced the
approval of 20 rural broadband and
telecommunication loans totaling
$190 million to expand access to
advanced technology in 19 states.
The funding is part of the Bush
administration’s effort to expand the
availability of broadband technology
in rural areas.
“President Bush is committed to
ensuring that every household in
America has access to broadband by
the year 2007,” said Veneman. “This
technology is important for families
and businesses to succeed in a global
environment.”
Veneman announced in January
2003 that USDA would expand
efforts to bring farmers, rural residents
and businesses greater access to
improved telecommunication technology
through loans and loan guarantees
to rural telecommunications
providers. Funds for the program
were authorized through the 2002
Farm Bill. To date, over $206 million
in broadband loans have been
approved in this program.
The rural broadband access program
provides loans and loan guarantees
for the construction, improvement,
and acquisition of facilities and
equipment for broadband service in
eligible rural communities. Priority is
given to applications that are proposing
to serve areas where no residential
broadband service currently exists.
