arra

If you want more proof that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has produced major economic improvement in America, check out the report issued Friday by Vice President Biden.  It highlights some of the most innovative Recovery Act projects undertaken across America and I’m proud to say that a number of those were supported by USDA.

For most of its 130-year existence, the city of Adrian, Minn., has had the services of a hometown pharmacist. That is, until the local pharmacy was forced to close in 2008.

I am winding through rural roads in extreme northwest Missouri, away from any large city, in the middle of the country, basically out in the middle of nowhere as some would say, and I am thinking about the investment Rural Development is making; thinking about the amount of money we have provided to the community of Fairfax, population 645 and the county of Atchison, population 6,430. The total investment is almost $39 million for a new hospital, regional wholesale water system, and city distribution system.

Jim Joens remembers planting crops on the Minnesota farm where he grew up as early as 1973, when he was 14 years old. Even then he knew that farming was what he wanted to be doing, and he’s been doing it ever since.

Prop Canyon Dam was built in 1960 in the village of Bluewater, New Mexico by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the Lava Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) and the Bluewater Toltec Irrigation District. The earthen structure was erected to protect crops, residents and infrastructure from serious flooding, and for 50 years it did just that.

I recently traveled to the Texas State capitol of Austin for a speaking engagement in the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) “3E’s of Healthy Living 2010 FND Staff Conference.” Prior to the event I was given the opportunity to tour Decker Elementary, a recipient of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding. I met with with Manor Independent School District (ISD) staff, Principal Leslie Whitworth and TDA Assistant Commissioner Angela Olige, and we toured the school cafeteria to learn how the funding is benefiting students. It was exciting to see their new equipment, as I am quite passionate about school nutrition.

As the end of a very successful Federal fiscal year approaches, Mississippi Rural Development State Director Trina N. George and her senior staff held a briefing for staff members for offices of Mississippi's Congressional delegation in the offices of USDA Rural Development in Jackson. 

I recently visited Lansdowne Middle School in Baltimore, Maryland to see new equipment the school purchased with American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 (ARRA) grant money.  I was delighted to hear Jerrisa Carter, Maryland’s Area Regional Food Service Director, say their new convection oven has improved the quality of their school meals.

USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan joined Senator Jack Reed and North Tiverton, Rhode Island Fire District Moderator James Donnelly on Friday, September 10 to cut the celebratory, ceremonial ribbon that was wrapped around the towns’ new pump station.

USDA Rural Utilities Administrator Jonathan Adelstein visited Western Kentucky recently to announce the start of one of the largest broadband projects in the country.