United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Bette Brand today invited applications for loan and grants to support rural microenterprises.
The funding is being provided through USDA’s Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP).
RMAP provides loans and grants to a non-profit entity, tribe or institution of higher education as a Microenterprise Development Organization (MDO) to establish revolving loan funds to provide loans to rural microloan borrowers and micro entrepreneurs, or to provide training and technical assistance to micro entrepreneurs. To be eligible for a loan from an MDO, an ultimate recipient must be a business with 10 or fewer full-time employees and be located in a non-metropolitan rural area with a population of 50,000 or less.
USDA encourages applications that will support recommendations made in the Report to the President of the United States from the Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity (PDF, 5.4 MB) to help improve life in rural America. Applications are being accepted in the Rural Development State Office where the project is located in either a paper or electronic format.
Applicants are encouraged to consider projects that provide measurable results in helping rural communities build robust and sustainable economies through strategic investments. Key strategies include:
• Achieving e-Connectivity for Rural America
• Developing the Rural Economy
• Harnessing Technological Innovation
• Supporting a Rural Workforce
• Improving Quality of Life
