Rural Economic Development Loans

What this funds

The Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant programs provide funding for rural projects through local utility organizations. USDA provides zero-interest loans to local utilities which they, in turn, pass through to local businesses (ultimate recipients) for projects that will create and retain employment in rural areas. The ultimate recipients repay the lending utility directly. The utility is responsible for repayment to USDA. The maximum amount for a loan is $2 million. ' Up to 80 percent of project costs; 20 percent must be provided by the ultimate recipient or ' The local utility may incorporate interest rates or administrative loan fees after the funds have been loaned out and revolved once. First-time loans are at zero percent interest. ' Repayment may be deferring ed up to two years for projects including a start-up venture or In 2025, the agency obligated just over $53.4 million across the regular and persistent poverty programs with $7.9 million of this funding going to persistent poverty. The funding from this program invests in a variety of industries across rural American communities with the goal of increasing rural prosperity. The Administration invested funding across the Midwest positively impacting a variety of name a few. The states with the largest economic development investments from the regular program are Iowa, North Carolina, and Missouri, with each being awarded approximately $9.3 million in 2025 under this Administration. Several states such as Indiana, Minnesota, and Wisconsin received investments in Electric Power Distribution. Out of total funding, the agency awarded persistent poverty loans in the amount of just under $7.9 million across Missouri, North Carolina, Arizona, and Mississippi; these funds were invested in the Health Care and Social Assistance sector in North Carolina and the Manufacturing sector focusing on rendering and meat byproduct processing in Missouri. In 2025, this program received $3 million in Disaster Assistance Funding (DAF) in the 4th quarter; none of these funds were obligated in 2025.

Extracted from Rural Business-Cooperative Service, p. 24. Verbatim; nothing here is paraphrased.

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Answers come from the figures on this page and nothing else. These dollars are parsed from Agriculture (USDA)'s Congressional Justification and are approximate — confirm anything that matters against the cited page.