Rea Landholm, gerente de marketing y comunicaciones de marca, [email protected], 402.687.2100 extensión 1025
MICHIGAN – As lawmakers work to finalize the 2018 farm bill, a group of 29 grantees of the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP) have signed a letter calling on Congress to fund the program.
La carta solicita una asignación de 3 millones de dólares anuales en fondos obligatorios, una fracción de los 867 mil millones de dólares que costará el gasto en la ley agrícola durante los próximos 10 años.
Northern Initiatives in Marquette, Michigan, signed on to the letter asking Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) to support and restore funding for RMAP in the farm bill. Michigan is one of 18 states represented in the letter.
“As ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Sen. Stabenow has the opportunity to protect this program on behalf of Michigan’s rural businesses,” said Cora Fox, policy associate at the Center for Rural Affairs, based in Lyons, Nebraska.
RMAP provides access to loan capital through grants to organizations that provide training, technical assistance, or small loans to rural businesses in Michigan and nationwide. Since its creation in 2008, the program has helped 2,100 small businesses create jobs and expand consumer access to goods and services in rural areas.
La Cámara de Representantes aprobó su versión del proyecto de ley agrícola el 21 de junio de 2018. Una semana después, el Senado aprobó su propuesta. Ninguna de las dos versiones incluyó financiación para el programa RMAP, pero existe la oportunidad de salvarlo en el comité de conciliación.
“Rural businesses play an important role in our nation’s economy, and it is critical that Congress supports RMAP with mandatory funding,” Fox said. “With the majority of Michigan’s counties classified as rural, we are counting on Sen. Stabenow to be a champion for small, rural businesses and advocate for RMAP funding. This program is an opportunity to invest in Michigan and improve the lives of rural residents in the state.”
“RMAP helps spark innovation and economic activity in rural areas where it is sorely needed,” said Anna Johnson, senior policy associate at the Center for Rural Affairs. “Small scale entrepreneurship is a proven strategy to revitalize rural communities, and RMAP can help create genuine opportunity, with modest public investment, across Michigan.”
La financiación del programa RMAP expirará el 30 de septiembre de 2018, a menos que se renueve en la ley agrícola.
Entre las organizaciones que firman la carta se encuentran: Arkansas: Communities Unlimited, Inc., Fayetteville; California: California FarmLink, Santa Cruz; Feed the Hunger Foundation, San Francisco; Jefferson Economic Development Institute, Mount Shasta; Terra Green Community Development Corporation, Alameda; Colorado: Corporación de Desarrollo de Vivienda y Recursos Comunitarios, Westminster; Idaho: Asociación de Desarrollo Económico de Clearwater, Lewiston; Kentucky: Corporación de Emprendimientos Comunitarios, Lexington; Maine: Coastal Enterprises, Inc., Brunswick; Community Concepts Finance Corporation, Lewiston; MaineStream Finance, Bangor; Northern Maine Development Commission, Caribou; Maryland: Centro de Emprendimiento de Eastern Shore, Easton; Massachusetts: Corporación de Desarrollo Comunitario del Valle de Quaboag, Ware; Michigan: Iniciativas del Norte, Marquette; Minnesota: Fundación Iniciativa del Suroeste, Hutchinson; Montana: MoFi, Missoula; Nebraska: Centro de Asuntos Rurales, Lyons; First Ponca Financial, Grand Island; Fondo Empresarial de Nebraska, Oakland; Corporación de Desarrollo Económico del Área de Nebraska City, Nebraska City; Nueva Jersey: Corporación Cooperativa de Asistencia Empresarial, Camden; Oregón: Centro Regional de Vivienda del Lago Klamath (KLRHC), Klamath Falls; Pennsylvania: Fondo Community First, Lancaster; Dakota del Sur: Fondo Comunitario de las Cuatro Bandas, Eagle Butte; Desarrollo del Área de los Lagos Glaciares, Britton; Fondos Lakota, Kyle; Washington: Fondo de Desarrollo Económico de Seattle, que opera bajo el nombre de Business Impact NW, Seattle; Wisconsin: CAP Services, Inc., Stevens Point.
