INSIDE RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Community facilities essential
for strong rural communities
By Greg Branum,
Missouri State Director
USDA Rural Development
s related in the cover
story of this issue of Rural
Cooperatives, we in
Missouri are certainly
excited about the developing
biofuels industry in our state. We
believe that overall it is having a strong,
positive impact on our rural economy,
and will provide even more benefits as
more biofuel facilities are constructed.
USDA Rural Development is pleased
that we were able to help support projects
such as the Mid-Missouri Energy
(MidMo) ethanol plant in Malta Bend
with a timely Value Added Producer
Grant (VAPG) of $500,000. That is just
one of many awards made nationwide
under this program to support producer-
owned biofuels projects. USDA Rural Development’s
Renewable Energy Systems and Energy
Efficiency Program also provided more
than $17 million this year to support
375 renewable energy efforts in 36
states.
But strong rural communities not
only need ways to add value to their
agricultural products, they also need
good schools, medical facilities and so
much more. USDA Rural Development
promotes these types of essential public
facilities through our Community
Facilities Loan and Grant (CF) Program.
One example in the mid-Missouri
area of how the CF program helps rural
America is the I-70 Medical Center,
about one hour east of Kansas City, in
Sweet Springs, about 15 miles from the
new MidMo ethanol plant. This medical
center was the recipient of an $8
million CF grant, and one of four medical
centers or hospitals financed in
Missouri with USDA Rural Development
CF funds during the last two
years. The others are the Excelsior
Springs Medical Center (northeast of
Kansas City), the General John J.
Pershing Hospital in Brookfield (in
north-central Missouri) and Iron
County Hospital in Ironton (about 100
miles southwest of St. Louis).
Nationwide, during fiscal 2005, $729
million in CF Direct Loans, $194
million in CF Guaranteed Loans, and
$55 million in CF grants was provided
to construct more than 1,200 essential
community facilities in rural America.
The I-70 Medical Center is a
28,333-square-foot, state-of-the-art
facility that provides acute-care and
emergency-care services to area residents.
The 15 licensed acute-care beds
provide health-care services to adult
and senior in-patients.
The hospital also provides a variety
of out-patient services, including surgery
and diagnostic services. It also provides
out-patient therapies, including
physical, cardiac rehabilitation and
emergency care. While not a trauma
center, the I-70 Center provides muchneeded
medical services to both the
area’s senior population and the young.
The Community Facilities program
has benefited more than 75 Missouri
communities in the past year alone, with
installation of more than 60 first-responder
and early-warning systems. The CF
program has also helped 10 Missouri
cities acquire police, ambulance and fire
or rescue vehicles. It has also helped
fund the building of: a community center;
two shelters for women suffering
from domestic violence; a Head Start
program building; a sheltered workshop
and a 911 dispatch center.
For more information on the
Community Facilities program, visit:
www.rurdev.usda.gov/rhs/cf/cp.htm, or
call (202) 720-4323, and see how it can
help your community.
