AGRICULTURE SECRETARY VILSACK ANNOUNCES $71.7 MILLION IN LOAN ASSISTANCE TO HELP RURAL BUSINESSES

Guaranteed Loans Provided Through Recovery Act Funds Will Help Strengthen Rural Communities Throughout America

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced $71.7 million in loan guarantees to assist 20 rural businesses in funding made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The funding announced today is being made available through USDA Rural Development's Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program. Altogether, $1.7 billion is available to businesses across the country through Recovery Act Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program funding.

"The Recovery Act funds announced today will help businesses get access to the capital they need to launch and expand their businesses and help bring additional jobs to America's small cities and towns," Vilsack said. "President Obama and I are committed to building strong rural communities by helping businesses grow so we can put people back to work."

Eligible Business and Industry Loan Program applicants include private businesses, cooperative organizations, corporations, partnerships, non-profit groups, federally recognized Indian tribes, public bodies and individuals. The funds will be targeted to creating and retaining quality jobs and serving difficult-to-reach populations and areas hardest hit by the current economic downturn. Learn more about the program by visiting www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/busp/b&i_gar.htm.

Many businesses and rural residents have benefited from loans guaranteed by USDA Rural Development. For example, in 2004 a $7.3 million USDA loan guarantee to expand Poplar Bluff Industries' Nordyne plant in Poplar Bluff, Mo., created 400 jobs and saved another 400. The plant makes HVAC equipment.

More information about USDA's Recovery Act efforts is available at www.usda.gov/recovery. More information about the Federal government's efforts on the Recovery Act is available at www.recovery.gov.