USDA program Invests $987 million in rural Nevada loans since 2009

More than $161 million was invested in rural Nevada in 2014 by the Department of Agriculture's Rural Development agency to support housing, business and community facilities. Since 2009, the rural agency has provided more than $987 million to strengthen rural Nevada’s families and communities.

In announcing the year-end total, USDA RD State Director Sarah Adler said the positive impact for families, businesses, and communities has been significant. Since 2009, the agency has helped 4,555 Nevada families to purchase or repair homes and 67 rural businesses to grow. More than 100 community projects to improve water and waste systems, build essential community facilities, and purchase emergency response equipment were funded.

“Despite a furlough that left us frustrated on the sidelines for the first 17 days of fiscal year 2014, we came barreling back and got the job done for families, businesses, nonprofits, local governments, and tribes in rural Nevada,” said Adler.

In 2014 Rural Development’s Business Programs provided $11.8 million in guaranteed loans, topping two previous years. The guaranteed loan program encourages private lenders to invest capital in rural areas. As an example, USDA's financing helped Clean Dried Processing, a light manufacturer, expand its operations into Silver Springs, creating 16 jobs in a community with high unemployment. The company uses a dehydrator to create tomato pumice and other products used in animal feed.

In FY 2014 USDA RD approved a second $500,000 Rural Microenterprise Assistance Program loan to the Rural Nevada Development Corporation. Adler called the funding one of the highlights of the year.

"Our partnership with RNDC, wherein we provide them a loan, and in turn they administer a revolving loan fund with micro-loans to small rural businesses statewide, is showing excellent results,” said Adler. “The job creation resulting from these loans really makes a difference for rural communities."

Ferrel Hansen, RNDC's Chief Executive Officer, called the first allocation of RMAP funds in Nevada to RNDC a great success. "The USDA loan allowed us to provide microloans to 27 small rural businesses retaining 47 jobs and creating 30 new jobs. The original $500,000 was leveraged with other sources of funds to total $ 693,689 in total dollars lent to ultimate recipients," Hansen said. "The annual benefit to rural Nevada of just the new jobs created from this program in its initial allocation to RNDC is $900,000. That’s a very good return on investment!”

USDA's Housing Program continues to be the heavy hitter in terms of dollars invested in rural communities. In FY 2014, the Guaranteed Single Family Housing Program provided over $125 million in loans to 750 families, working with 45 different mortgage lenders statewide to provide 100 percent financing to credit-worthy low and moderate income families. As a direct lender, Nevada’s USDA staff accessed extra funds from a national pool, thereby doubling previous home loan totals while serving 64 rural families. The agency also obligated $297,675 in repair loans and grants for 40 very low-income seniors and homeowners who would not have otherwise afforded these essential repairs.

Between guaranteed and direct loans, families in every county in Nevada benefited from USDA’s homeownership assistance. Rural Development also created a campaign to reach out to Hispanic families considering homeownership through its “Mi Casa en Rural Nevada” homeownership education videos in Spanish, available on YouTube.

USDA Rural Development finances and provides rental subsidy to very low income residents, many of them seniors and disabled, in apartment complexes throughout rural Nevada. USDA keeps a vigilant watch on the portfolio and through rental assistance which brought another $9.3 million federal dollars into the state in FY 2014.

In FY 2014, the Community Facilities Program invested over $3.8 million in essential equipment, vehicles, and buildings in rural and tribal communities. Of that, $151,500 was in grants — the balance was loans to local governments and nonprofits that will be repaid.

In 2014, USDA RD continued its partnership with Boulder City Hospital by approving a direct loan of $1.7 million for an Electronic Health Records system. In 2013 USDA RD had invested $16.3 million in direct and guaranteed loans to Boulder City Hospital for renovation and expansion that is now nearing completion.

Across all programs, the agency has focused attention on highest need communities in FY 2014. In addition to investing more than $282,076 in tribal communities across the state for business enterprise and essential community facilities, the agency is now using a team approach in some of the most remote and challenged "Opportunity Communities" in the state where unemployment is high and household income is low.

“As we all know, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. We seek to increase the vitality of whole communities by bringing together not only our diverse RD programs but also those of our federal and state partners to respond to community-identified priorities,” Adler stated. “We already are seeing results and we are eager for this work to continue and magnify in the benefits it reaps.”

USDA Rural Development has offices in Carson City, Fallon, Las Vegas and Elko. For more information see the website here, or contact the state office at (775) 887-1222.