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USDA awards over $180K in business grants
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Posted on Jul 19 2008
[B]HILO, Hawaii[/B]—Hawaii State Director Lorraine P. Shin recently announced the award of Rural Business Enterprise grants totaling $182,000 to three non-profit organizations. They are Big Island Resource Conservation & Development Council, Inc.; Pacific Gateway Center; and Rural Community Assistance Corp.
The Big Island RC&D, with a $42,000 grant, will assist Cordon Technologies, LLC in planning their development to expand the slaughterhouse operation in Paauilo. Pacific Gateway Center will utilize their $95,000 grant to expand on their relending program to serve small and under-served rural businesses. RCAC was approved for $45,000 to provide technical assistance to develop a comprehensive marketing study to guide new business and expansion ventures on the Island of Molokai. “Assisting small and emerging rural businesses are critical to our mission to deliver economic opportunity to rural communities,” Shin said.
The Rural Business Enterprise Grant is a business developmental grant program that promotes sustainable economic development in rural communities with exceptional need. The purpose of the RBEG is to assist public bodies and non-profit corporations finance and facilitate development of small and emerging private business enterprises located in areas outside the boundary of a city of 50,000 or more and its immediately adjacent urbanized area.
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 $90 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 1.4 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’s web site at http://www.rurdev.usda.gov.[B][I] (USDA)[/I][/B]
