rus

The Town of Roland, Oklahoma is located just 5 miles from the Arkansas border in extreme east central Oklahoma. Roland has the tools we need for growth, but economic development cannot happen without planning and a vision for the future. The new water treatment plant expansion will set the stage for Roland’s future.

Throughout this year, USDA’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) consulted with Tribes on the Substantially Underserved Trust Areas (SUTA) provision of the 2008 Farm Bill.  This provision directed RUS to develop a strategy to deliver infrastructure program funding tailored and more affordable to the circumstances and challenges facing trust lands in high need of RUS’s electric, telecommunications and water and waste program funding. Second, the provision directed RUS to consult with local governments and Federal agencies in implementing this effort.

As part of the Obama Administration’s goal of doubling renewable energy production by 2012, America’s rural electric cooperatives are stepping forward to develop new, sustainable ways to produce electricity.  These efforts are not only good for the environment; they help meet an expanding need for power due to growing rural consumer demand.  The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), part of USDA’s Rural Development mission area, is a willing and ready partner in this effort.

USDA Rural Development officials joined Greg Bell, Lieutenant Governor of the State of Utah recently at the 2010 Native American Summit held in Ogden.  This historic gathering provided an opportunity to meet with Utah’s tribal Leaders, and explore the means available for USDA to become a more effective partner in delivering services and addressing tribal needs.

Written by Jonathan Adelstein, Administrator, Rural Utilities Service

I traveled to Philadelphia today to join the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC) for their 2010 national forum. We partner with CFC to finance electric cooperatives across rural America. It was a chance to talk about the progress USDA has made over the last 75 years toward rural electrification, and how we are on the frontlines again to bring access to high speed broadband to rural America.

Mary Meyer, who began working for the Madison Telephone LLC in Kansas for the first generation owners, is now working with the third generation to prepare them to take over the company upon her retirement...when this USDA funded Broadband project is complete.

I am very pleased to launch our latest effort to encourage more widespread use and understanding of the life-saving field of telemedicine through our Power of Telemedicine web discussion.  Telemedicine has grown steadily over the past decade. The USDA’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) has participated consistently along the way, supporting innovation in telemedicine as early as 1993 with our Distance Learning and Telemedicine grant program. Our telemedicine program is designed specifically to meet the health care needs of rural America.  Through loans, grants and loan and grant combinations, advanced telecommunications technologies provide enhanced health care opportunities for rural residents.  It, together with our Distance Learning program, has funded over 900 projects in 48 states and several US Territories totaling over $300 million.

By Jonathan Adelstein, Administrator-USDA Rural Utilities Service

If you lived in a rural area 75 years ago, you probably didn’t have electricity. Water for livestock, cooking, cleaning and bathing had to be hand pumped from a well. Farmers risked milk spoilage in the summer, and people often got sick from lack of refrigeration of their food.

Over 250 attended the Broadband Workshop on Ground Hog Day (Feb.