"Economic vitality of rural America depends on local business
and community leaders having the resources to increase economic
opportunities and improve the quality of life," said Conner.
"These loan and grant investments will allow for the creation
and retention of thousands of rural jobs, Connor said."

     In conjunction with today's announcement USDA signed a $1
billion guarantee note with a lender who will pay an annual fee
for the federal guarantee, a portion of which will be available
for the REDLG program. The signing of the guarantee will provide
an estimated $52 million in funding for the REDLG program.

     An additional $3.4 million in loan funds will be used to
assist local re-lending intermediaries establish or expand
revolving loan funds to support business development or
expansions. Grants totaling $1 million will be made available to
local public broadcasting stations for educating viewers on
rural matters.

      The loans and free federal grants will support economic and
community development and assist in the creation or saving of
over 3,000 rural jobs as part of the Bush Administration's
ongoing efforts to spur economic development in rural areas.

     Over $11.6 million in Rural Economic Development Loans

     USDA Rural Development's mission is to deliver programs in a
way that will support increasing economic opportunity and
improve the quality of life of rural residents. As a venture
capital entity, Rural Development has invested over $54 billion
since the beginning of the Bush Administration to provide equity
and technical assistance to finance and foster growth in
homeownership, business development, and critical community and
technology infrastructure. As a result, over 1 million jobs have
been created or saved through these investments.

     Funding of selected applicants will be contingent upon
meeting the conditions of the loan and/or grant agreement. A
complete list of selected recipients can be found at

http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/.

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