Rea Landholm, gerente de marketing y comunicaciones de marca, [email protected], 402.687.2100 extensión 1025
HUTCHINSON, MINNESOTA – 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.
The letter asks for a $3 million appropriation in mandatory funding each year, a fraction of the $867 billion price tag for farm bill spending over the next 10 years.
Five Minnesota organizations receive funds from RMAP. The state is one of 18 represented in the letter.
“Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), as ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee, is uniquely positioned to champion this program on behalf of Minnesota’s rural businesses,” said Cora Fox, policy associate at the Center for Rural Affairs.
RMAP provides access to loan capital through grants to organizations that provide training, technical assistance, or small loans to rural businesses in Minnesota 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.
The House passed its version of the farm bill on June 21, 2018. A week later, the Senate passed its farm bill proposal. Both versions failed to include funding for RMAP.
“Rural businesses play an important role in our nation’s economy, and it is critical that Congress supports RMAP with mandatory funding,” Fox said. “Rural entrepreneurs in Minnesota are counting on Rep. Peterson to be a champion for small, rural businesses and advocate for RMAP funding. This program is an opportunity to invest in Minnesota and improve the lives of rural residents in the state.”
In fiscal year 2018, Southwest Initiative Foundation in Hutchinson, Minnesota, dispersed $100,000 to four new loan clients in their region. With the help of these funds, Minnesota businesses are investing additional resources in their communities that can help reinvigorate rural economies.
“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 Minnesota.”
Funding for RMAP is set to expire on Sept. 30, 2018, unless renewed in the farm bill.
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.
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