The U.S. government will put field staff in more than two dozen rural communities to provide a link between local leaders and federal economic development programs, said the White House on Wednesday. The Rural Partners Network will be run by USDA but will have a “whole of government” approach, working with 10 federal departments, the EPA and the Small Business Administration, and will expand to all 50 states if Congress provides additional funding.
White House domestic policy advisor Susan Rice and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the Rural Partners initiative ahead of visiting Clarksdale, a small city in northwestern Mississippi. The trip was part of the administration’s “rural infrastructure tour” to publicize the $14.6 billion in rural-specific programs that were part of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure law.
“Just making resources available is not enough — the federal government must work better for rural communities so they can fully take advantage of these opportunities,” said Rice. “The Rural Partners Network will empower rural communities to get their fair share of federal funds, an important goal for not only development but equity as well.”
Vilsack said the one-on-one support would be more effective than cookie-cutter programs enumerated on a federal website. “Rural America is incredibly diverse,” he said. “What makes sense for one community may not for another.”
The first “cohort” of field staff workers will go to work by the end of May in communities in Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi and New Mexico. They would be followed in Alaska, Nevada, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, West Virginia and Wisconsin by the end of August. The USDA selected the communities and tribal groups for the initiative on factors that included levels of economic distress and local readiness to be part of the network.
With the network, there will be “federal employees who wake up every day with the mandate of working with the community…to figure out what the community needs and what federal resources can help meet those needs,” said a senior administration official. In addition, the SBA, EPA and federal departments ranging from USDA and Commerce to Treasury, Veterans Affairs and Labor will dedicate staff workers as the contact point for RPN workers and communities as they navigate resources offered by the government.
Information about the Rural Partners Network and participating rural community networks was available here.