06.21.11

Durbin Announces More Than $460,000 in USDA Grants for Small Business Development

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Development division has awarded a total of $466,000 in Rural Business Enterprise Grant funding to local organizations in Henderson, Jo Daviess, LaSalle, Marion, and Peoria counties.

 

“Small businesses play an important role in putting rural Illinoisans back to work,” said Durbin “This funding invests in the small businesses that will drive our economic recovery.”

 

Each year, Rural Development administers nearly $16 billion in program loans, loan guarantees, and grants. The USDA’s Rural Business Enterprise Grant programs helps finance and facilitate development of small and emerging rural businesses and helps fund business incubators and employment related adult education programs. Projects funded under the Rural Business Enterprise Grant programs benefit small and emerging private businesses in rural areas in a number of ways, including planning, construction, and education.

 

The following local governments and organizations will receive funding:

 

  • City of Elmwood: $99,000 in grant funding to establish a revolving loan fund for small businesses in the community;

 

  • City of Kinmundy: $99,000 in grant funding to construct a downtown commercial building to be leased to two or more small businesses, resulting in the retention or creation of local jobs;

 

  • Guilford Township: $70,000 in grant funding to improve North Ford Road in order to provide better access to a small business;

 

  • Illinois Valley Community College Foundation: $99,000 in grant funding to purchase renewable wind energy technology to train students in Wind Energy Technician Certificate programs that will accelerate the entry of students into the local workforce; and

 

  • Village of Oquawka: $99,000 in grant funding to replace the walkways of downtown businesses to fulfill ADA requirements.