Farm Credit East was pleased to recently award two winners of the Lipinski Rural Initiatives Award. This year’s recipients are being recognized for their innovative approaches for investing in rural businesses and economic development. Each recipient was awarded $25,000.
Northern Maine Development Commission, based in Caribou, Maine, provides critical technical assistance to bring capital investments to rural businesses in Northern Maine. The Northern Maine Development Commission’s Center for Business Growth provides high-quality, no-cost specialized capital advising and grant writing services to businesses in agricultural communities. Since 2020, the Center has supported over 2,000 businesses and entrepreneurs, preserving and creating 850 jobs in rural Northern Maine. The $25,000 award will be used to expand programs and enhance funding access for agricultural communities in Penobscot and Piscataquis counties.
New England Rural Health Association, based in Barre, Vermont, prepares people in rural regions of Massachusetts to become community health workers via their Rural Public Health Workforce Training Network. The training network specifically focuses on recruiting legal migrant or immigrant community members to provide a pathway to a career in healthcare. By enabling people to shift from low-income jobs to well-paying, benefited jobs, there is an economic development impact on both the trainees and the local health centers and hospitals in need of skilled healthcare workers. The $25,000 award will be used to expand the Rural Public Health Workforce Training Network.
“This award recognizes efforts to enhance the quality of life in Northeast rural communities that are critical to the farm, forest products and fishing businesses that depend on them,” said board chair John Knopf. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients! Both are doing excellent work to support rural communities, which will benefit the Farm Credit East customers who call those communities home. We hope this award furthers their efforts.”
Farm Credit East is a member-owned cooperative serving businesses involved in agriculture, forest products and commercial fishing throughout its eight-state territory of New York, New Jersey and New England. In addition to loans and leases, the organization offers a full range of specialized financial services. Farm Credit East is governed by a 15-person board of directors, comprised of 13 customer-elected, one customer appointed and one outside appointed director. For more information, visit FarmCreditEast.com.
CoBank is a cooperative bank serving vital industries across rural America. The bank provides loans, leases, export financing and other financial services to agribusinesses and rural power, water and communications providers in all 50 states. The bank also provides wholesale loans and other financial services to affiliated Farm Credit associations serving more than 78,000 farmers, ranchers and other rural borrowers in 23 states around the country. CoBank is a member of the Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of banks and retail lending associations chartered to support the borrowing needs of U.S. agriculture, rural infrastructure and rural communities. Headquartered outside Denver, Colorado, CoBank serves customers from regional banking centers across the U.S. and also maintains an international representative office in Singapore.
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