USDA Rural Development Invests $7.1 Million to Expand Market Opportunities for Rural Businesses and Entrepreneurs in Kansas Communities

TOPEKA, Dec. 08, 2022 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Kansas State Director for Rural Development Christy Davis today announced that the Department is investing $7,168,490 in loans and grants to help create new and better market opportunities and expand essential services for rural people, businesses and entrepreneurs in rural Kansas communities.

“Rural Kansas businesses provide everyday essentials our country needs,” Davis said. “USDA Rural Development is dedicated to job creation and expansion of entrepreneurial opportunities in the rural places they live. The partnerships will build brighter futures for everyone in Kansas.”

The funding will help keep resources and wealth made by rural people right at home through affordable financing and technical assistance. It will help rural Americans start businesses and allow small business owners to grow. It will also open doors to new economic opportunities for communities and people who historically have lacked access to critical resources and financing.

For example:

• A $6,971,000 loan will help refinance debt held by another lender for Triple Crown Jayhawk LLC of Gove County. Triple Crown Energy specializes in acquiring, developing and operating oil and gas properties in a variety of basins in the Continental US. One of Triple Crown’s subsidiaries, Triple Crown Jayhawk LLC, owns and operates producing wells in Ness, Gove and Hodgeman counties.

• A $178,607 grant will help provide technical assistance to rural grocery stores transitioning to mutually owned business models, including the cooperative model in rural communities. The Rural Grocery Initiative will work with Kansas State University and partners across Kansas to enhance and deliver cooperative development services. The primary objective is improving the economic condition of rural areas through cooperative development. This project will assist 30 businesses and save two jobs.

• An $18,883 grant will help provide technical assistance to West Central Missouri Community Action Agency to advance its START HERE revolving loan fund and Business Acceleration Network in Appleton City, Missouri. This project will help serve microentrepreneurs in West Central Missouri and Southeast Kansas. This project is expected to assist 20 small businesses.

Background:

These USDA awards are part of a national announcement which include projects for 47 states and two territories. The Kansas projects include the USDA programs of Business and Industry (B&I) Loan Guarantees, Rural Cooperative Development Grant Program and the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate-smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean-energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.

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