ARRA

President Barack Obama visited three businesses in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, this week on the heels of the State of the Union address. The main event was his address to the employees of Orion Energy Systems Inc. Orion designs and produces energy management systems consisting primarily of high...

Glowing smiles from the residents of Philipsburg, PA adorned the scene of a ribbon cutting ceremony marking the grand opening of the new downtown location of the Holt Memorial Library on a blustery evening in January. Through $261,500 in loans and $213,500 in grants from the American Recovery and...

On February 17, 2009 President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. As a result of this Act, two Broadband groundbreaking ceremonies were held in Louisiana during the month of October. Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu and USDA Rural Development State Director Clarence W...

Wow, the first emergency call out of the new fire station. As I pulled into the driveway of the new Heyburn, Idaho, Fire Station for the ribbon cutting, I was greeted with the red lights flashing on the fire truck as the fire crew rushed to their call. Initially, I thought about how much faster the...

As many as 28 students from the Pajaro Valley High School recently planted wetland trees, shrubs and grasses as part of a Pajaro River Watershed project near Watsonville, California. For this project, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is working with the Resource Conservation District of...

Earlier today, I joined Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan and other top USDA officials here at the Agriculture Department for the Second USDA Tribal Leaders Listening Session. The leaders are in Washington for tomorrow’s White House Conference, called by President Obama because he is...

In the days of the Great Depression, the National Recovery Act had as part of its focus the development of rural America. The primary initiatives of that era were development of electrical and telephone systems throughout the nation.

USDA Rural Development State Director Jasper Schneider, and staff, recently toured seven rural communities in southwestern North Dakota as part of USDA’s ongoing commitment to rural communities. Schneider participated in conversations with community leaders to identify ways Rural Development...

The Franklin Community Volunteer Fire Department, Incorporated in Toast, North Carolina had a problem. The department had outgrown its current facility and was “land locked” with no expansion room.

Local fire departments and emergency service personnel play a critical role in ensuring community safety. Every community, no matter how small, should have access to top-quality emergency services.