The Rural Electric and Telecommunications Development Center

USDA Rural Development awards grant to NDAREC

Rural Development State Director Jasper Schneider, right, visited NDAREC recently to formally present a cooperative development grant to NDAREC’s Rural Development center, led by Lori Capouch, left. (photo by Kent Brick)

U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development State Director Jasper Schneider presented a $225,000 grant to the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives (NDAREC) during the association’s board of directors meeting last month.

The funding is provided through USDA Rural Development’s Rural Cooperative Development Grant program to help create self-sustaining, long-term economic development in rural communities.

“The RECs strive to expand economic activity in rural North Dakota by providing quality services,” Schneider said. “Rural Development’s partnership with NDAREC will help support these efforts and it highlights the continued success of the cooperative business model as a viable organizational option.”

The grant will be used by the NDAREC to operate its cooperative development center. The center will work with electric and telecommunications cooperatives to provide technical assistance in support of the development of other cooperatives and rural businesses. The center will facilitate strategic planning sessions, raise funds for development activities, lead organizational development, facilitate equity drives, conduct and participate in feasibility studies, develop financial packages, and conduct board of director training and management audits.
“We are proud of our nearly two-decade long partnership with USDA Rural Development, which has allowed us to expand community services all across rural North Dakota,” said Dennis Hill, executive vice president and general manager of NDAREC.

Schneider said this grant to NDAREC aligns well with the USDA Rural Development mission of advancing economic and quality of life conditions in rural communities. This work is essential in the robust agricultural and energy development landscape in North Dakota, he said.

“If you’re going to have domestic food production and domestic energy production, it’s absolutely essential you have rural communities,” Schneider said. “And to have rural communities, you need to invest in infrastructure to attract a work force so we can sustain and grow those industries.”  

In addition to boosting rural cooperative enterprise, USDA Rural Development also has programs to support development in the areas of housing, school and medical facilities, modern electric power and telecommunications, roadway, water and waste disposal services. 

The USDA grant and related services are part of the NDAREC Rural Electric and Telecommunications Development Center’s services. This center, led by Lori Capouch, also directs and coordinates other key development activities currently ranging from housing, to renewable energy, to oil refining, to livestock processing and dairy operation, to rural development financing services. Capouch’s colleagues in the development center include Pat Downs and Gary Hoffman.

The NDAREC rural development center has also experienced recent success in its coordination of the USDA Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant Program (REDLG). KEM Electric Cooperative, Linton, has received a $450,000 zero-interest loan through the REDLG program. This loan will be passed through to Green Iron Equipment for the expansion of its service shop in Napoleon. Green Iron’s expansion will add five full-time employees to the Napoleon location, bringing the total work force employed by the company to 22.

Northwest Communications has received a $300,000 grant through the REDLG program to establish a revolving loan fund. The fund will be used to provide a zero-interest loan to St. Luke’s Hospital, Crosby. St. Luke’s is in the process of constructing a replacement clinic onto the existing hospital, remodeling portions of the hospital and adding a new ambulance garage.