Will federal stimulus funds reach small communities and help revitalize the rural economy? It depends on whether the money is accessible to typical small towns that can’t afford a staff of grant writers. USDA has many dedicated and helpful staff in state offices. But that’s not always enough for communities that rely on the efforts of volunteers.

The Center for Rural Affairs has offered USDA two suggestions to ease the burden.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced that $18 million is available for Value Added Producer Grants. Applications are due July 6, 2009. Two funding set-asides have been created, both with a June 22 deadline. Ten percent is set aside for beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.

Another 10 percent goes to “mid-tier value chains,” defined as an agreement that establishes a marketing relationship between independent small and mid-size producers and businesses that market value added products.

Last month USDA announced that $50 million in Environmental Quality Incentives Program funds had been set aside for a special sign-up to support organic conversion and production. The sign-up originally ran from May 11 through May 29, but that deadline has been extended in some states.

Kansas: To address the shortage of medical professionals in rural areas, the Kansas Medical Student Loan Program has been created. Students receive tuition and $2,000 a month for living expenses. The students then must practice in a rural Kansas community for every year they participated in the program. 

I had an interesting conversation about two years back that I’ve not forgotten. After giving a presentation, I was approached by a shop owner from a town of about 1,100 bemoaning the fact that he was not having any success drawing new people into his main street store.