On Feb. 2, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that it has invested $1.4 billion to strengthen businesses in rural areas across the nation.
According to a press release, the investment will be used to help companies in rural America with job training, business expansion and technical assistance to hire more workers and reach new customers.
"For some time, rural America has been at the mercy of an extraction economy, where resources are taken from rural lands only to create jobs and economic opportunity in urban and suburban areas," Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said, according to the press release. "That’s why USDA is committed to doing what we can to change that extraction economy into a circular economy, where value is added closer to home, so the wealth created in rural areas stays in rural areas.
Funding will come from programs that were projected to create or save at least 50,000 jobs in rural U.S. regions in the fiscal year 2021.
"Today’s announcement underlines the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to helping transform the economy and bring high-paying jobs and economic opportunities to the people who need it most," Vilsack added.
Funding will be provided to businesses across 49 U.S. states, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
