Report on Rural America

Security for Rural America report focuses on five critical areas: creating jobs
and promoting economic growth, improving access to quality health care and
education, fostering innovation, expanding outdoor opportunities, and
supporting veterans and military families.

 “This report on Jobs and Economic Security in Rural America underscores the
commitment my Administration is making to rural communities,” said President
Obama.  “It highlights some of the many
programs and policies my Administration has implemented in rural America to
support economic growth.  It also offers
a look at the economic agenda we will continue to pursue during my Presidency.”

“This
report highlights the importance of understanding some of the specific needs as
well as unique opportunities found within rural America,” Secretary of Agriculture Tom
Vilsack said. “It also presents vital strategies that can and will be used to
seize those opportunities and tackle some of the toughest challenges facing our
rural communities.”

On
June 9, President Obama signed an Executive Order establishing the first White
House Rural Council to accelerate the ongoing work of promoting economic growth
in rural America.  The Council is focused on increasing rural
access to capital, spurring agricultural innovation, expanding digital and
physical infrastructure in rural areas, and creating economic opportunities
through conservation and outdoor recreation. 

This
week, the President and members of the White House Rural Council hosted the
White House Rural Economic Forum at Northeast
Iowa Community
College in Peosta, Iowa, as part of the President’s three-day economic bus
tour in the Midwest. The Forum brought
together farmers, small business owners, private sector leaders, rural
organizations, and government officials to discuss ideas and initiatives to
promote economic growth, accelerate hiring, and spur innovation in rural
communities and small towns across the nation. During the tour, President
engaged directly with a variety of rural leaders from across the nation to
discuss the importance of growing small businesses and strengthening the middle
class in rural America.

The
report is available online. Highlights from the report include:

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The Administration has made significant investments in supporting job creation
in rural America, including providing more than $6.2 billion in financing to
help nearly 10,000 rural businesses expand, grow, and innovate, creating or
saving over 250,000 jobs; providing more than $5 billion in farm operating and
ownership loans to help over 35,000 small and medium sized operations; and
expanding U.S. agricultural exports, supporting over 800,000 American jobs and
generating a 35-to-1 return on investment.

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The Administration has made significant investments in improving access to
quality health care and education in rural America, including providing
assistance to over 400,000 rural homeowners to purchase, build, or repair their
homes; financing nearly 6,000 Community Facilities, including over 2,500 public
safety facilities, 1,500 public buildings, 1,000 educational facilities, and
750 health care facilities; and providing nearly 9 million rural residents
access to a safe water supply and sanitary sewer system and over 3.7 million
rural residents access to new or improved systems that will deliver safe, clean
drinking water.

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The Administration has made significant investments in promoting innovation and
investment in rural America, including expanding broadband access to over 7
million rural Americans, including more than 350,000 rural businesses;
committing nearly $21 billion in loan guarantees to 32 clean energy projects
that will create or save nearly 21,000 jobs; creating the TIGER Discretionary
Grant Program which has invested more than $220 million in infrastructure vital
to rural areas; and installing energy efficiency solutions for more than 5,000
rural small businesses, farmers, and ranchers to help save energy and improve
their bottom line through the Department of Agriculture.

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The Administration has made significant investments in expanding outdoor
opportunities to create sustained economic growth in rural America, including
enrolling 7.1 million acres in the Conservation Reserve Program, which retires
environmentally sensitive farm lands and has set aside 300,000 acres in the
program specifically to benefit game species; partnering military with state
and local governments, land trusts, and landowners to secure conservation
easements through the Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative (REPI)
which protects more than 170,000 acres; removing 86,927 tons of biomass from
our National Forests to produce energy; and working with farmers to restore
wetlands habitat on 470,000 acres in the Gulf coastal plain following the Deepwater
Horizon oil spill in order to conserve migratory waterfowl.

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The Administration has made significant investments toward supporting our
veterans and military families in rural America, including providing education
benefits to over 215,000 veteran students in rural areas and 3,600 veteran
students in highly rural areas under the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill; investing in more
than 500 projects across the VA health care system in support of rural health
care, including 404 Community-Based Outpatient Clinics and 48 outreach clinics
in rural areas, to provide primary health care access to nearly 3.3 million
veterans; helping over 300,000 rural veterans and service members purchase a
home or refinance an existing mortgage through the veterans’ home loan guaranty
program; and challenging private companies to hire or train 100,000 veterans by
2013, and announcing commitments from numerous companies and organizations who
have already stepped up to meet that goal.

The
White House Rural Economic Forum is just one part of a series of more than 100
events held across the country this summer with senior Administration officials
to advance the Council’s objectives. 
Here are just some of the past and upcoming travel and events related to
the White House Rural Council:

ALASKA

HHS:  On August 29, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
will travel to Alaska,
where she will visit several remote towns and villages to highlight the rural
health and human services needs of tribal populations. The Secretary’s Alaska visit includes stops in Anchorage,
Fairbanks, Anaktuvuk
Pass, Barrow, and Tanana.

DOI:
From August 6-13, Secretary Kenneth Salazar traveled to Alaska for a series of meetings, roundtables
with business and Native leaders, and tours of key sites pertaining to energy,
conservation, and Native Alaskan issues. In Anchorage,
Secretary Salazar met with business leaders in Anchorage
to discuss the need for safe and responsible development of Alaska’s energy resources. In Fairbanks, Secretary
Salazar toured the Bureau of Land Management Alaska Fire Service firefighting
facilities with Sens. Murkowski and Reed. 
In Alaska’s North Slope region,
Secretary Salazar visited an Indian Health Services funded hospital currently
under construction in Barrow – the northernmost community in the United States – as well as the Denali National Park,
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.

CALIFORNIA:

USTR:
On August 18, Ambassador Ron Kirk will tour the processing facilities of Blue
Diamond Growers, located in downtown Sacramento.  There he will observe each step of almond
processing from delivery to shipping. 
Now 101 years old, Blue Diamond is the world’s largest and most
respected almond processing and marketing cooperative.  Blue Diamond’s membership includes approximately
3,000 California
almond producers, who grow 1.5 billion pounds of almonds, valued at $2 billion,
every year.   California growers produce more than 80
percent of the total world almond supply, and nearly 70 percent of the almonds
processed by Blue Diamond are marketed and sold to customers in over 90
countries.  Following the tour,
Ambassador Kirk will participate in a roundtable discussion with California
Secretary of Agriculture Karen Ross and California
agriculture industry leaders. 

FLORIDA:

USDA:
On August 11, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will tour the INEOS New Planet
BioEnergy facility in Vero Beach,
Florida.  The facility is receiving a loan guarantee
from USDA Rural Development to help build and operate a biorefinery capable of
producing 8 million gallons per year of cellulosic ethanol and 6 megawatts of
electricity.  While at INEOS, the
Secretary will announce a series of joint USDA and Department of Energy grants
to spur research into improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of
growing biofuel and bioenergy crops.

ILLINOIS:

DOT:
On August 19, Secretary Ray LaHood will visit the Illinois State Fair, where he
will hold a roundtable meeting with rural farm and business leaders from
central Illinois.  While there, he will highlight the agency’s
commitment to no new transportation regulations for farmers, and to continuing
common sense agricultural exemptions to trucking and heavy equipment
rules.  Secretary LaHood will also
discuss the importance of road, bridge, rail and port investments to growing
our agricultural economy and expanding exports.

IOWA

USDA:
On August 19, Agriculture Secretary Vilsack will hold a Rural Forum at the Iowa
State Fair with businesses and community leaders, farmers, ranchers, and Tribal
leaders to explore ways federal, state, and local officials can work together
to improve economic conditions and create jobs.   As chair of the White House Rural Council,
Secretary Vilsack is exploring ways to strengthen economic conditions, create
jobs, promote innovation and improve access to essential community services in
rural America.  

VA:  On September 1, Secretary Eric Shinseki will
host a rural roundtable in Des Moines.
The event will include a roundtable discussion to listen to local concerns and
highlight the Department of Veterans Affairs’ efforts to expand access to VA
care, benefits, and services in rural America.  VA has placed 12 community-based outpatient
clinics throughout the state and established tele-health services aimed at
meeting the needs of rural veterans.

MARYLAND:

USDA:
On July 21, Secretary Vilsack and Maryland Secretary of Agriculture Buddy Hance
held a rural roundtable during Maryland Ag Day in Annapolis. 
The Secretary met with Maryland
businesses leaders, farmers and ranchers to explore ways federal, state, and
local officials can work together to improve economic conditions and create
jobs in Annapolis, Maryland.

MINNESOTA:

VA:  On August 31, Secretary Shinseki will go to St. Paul to attend the
State Fair. The event will include a roundtable discussion to listen to local
concerns and highlight the Department of Veterans Affairs’ efforts to expand
access to VA care, benefits, and services in rural America. VA has placed 10
community-based outpatient clinics throughout the state and established
tele-health services aimed at meeting the needs of rural veterans.

MISSOURI:

USDA:  On July 27, Secretary Vilsack gave the
keynote at the Council on Foundations 2011 Rural Philanthropy Conference in Kansas City.  The Secretary called on representatives of
philanthropic organizations from across America
to “step up, take risks and work creatively to create jobs, improve quality of
life and make an impact on rural America.” During his keynote
address, the Secretary urged philanthropists to partner with the Obama
Administration, through the White House Rural Council to drive smart investment
strategies in rural America.

HHS:  On August 1, Secretary Sebelius visited the Learning Junction
Childcare Center
in Joplin, where she toured the St.
John’s Mobile Medical Unit, met with Joplin officials, and hosted a discussion on
mental health, child trauma, and school planning.  Later in the day, the Secretary visited a Critical Access
Hospital in Aurora, MO,
where she met with hospital leadership and took part in a roundtable discussion
on rural health issues. 

MONTANA:

DOI:  On July 15, Secretary Salazar hosted a rural
water infrastructure event on Crow Reservation in Montana to celebrate the recently approved
Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement, which will ensure safe drinking water for
the reservation as well as provide for the rehabilitation of the Crow
Irrigation Project. The Secretary also delivered keynote remarks at the Land
Consolidation Consultation in Billings,
where he discussed the importance of creating economic opportunities in rural
communities through conservation and outdoor recreation.  On July 16, Secretary Salazar hosted rural
lands conservation and outdoor recreation events in Ovando and the Blackfoot River Valley
to highlight community-based partnerships. Secretary Salazar also hosted a
youth focused outdoor recreation and jobs event in Kalispell that focused on
the economic impact of Glacier Park to northwest Montana.

VA:
On July 7-8, Secretary Shinseki held three rural events in Montana. 
The events were held in Helena at the
Montana National Guard Armory, in Bozeman at Montana State
University, and in Billings at the Billings VA Community-Based
Outpatient Clinic. Each event included a roundtable discussion where the
Secretary listened to local veterans and highlighted the Department of Veterans
Affairs’ efforts to expand access to VA care, benefits, and services in rural America.
Secretary Shinseki has made increased access to VA care in rural areas a top
priority, and the department continues to develop new ways to reach veterans in
rural parts of America.
VA has placed several community-based outpatient clinics and established
tele-health services throughout Montana.  

NEBRASKA:

VA:
On August 19, Secretary Shinseki will join Sen. Ben Nelson to host a rural
roundtable near Lincoln.  VA has made increased access to VA care in
rural areas a top priority, and the department continues to develop new ways to
reach veterans in rural parts of America.  VA has placed 11 community-based outpatient
clinics throughout the state and established tele-health services aimed at
meeting the needs of rural veterans. Plans are underway for a new $560 million
Omaha VAMC to replace the 60-year-old hospital. 
The facility provides a full range of patient care services, education,
and research for veterans in a 104-county area of Nebraska,
western Iowa, and portions of Kansas and Missouri. 

NEVADA:

VA:
On August 17, Secretary Shinseki will host a rural roundtable near Las Vegas.  VA has made increased access to VA care in
rural areas a top priority and the department continues to develop new ways to
reach Veterans in rural parts of America.  VA has placed 10 community-based outpatient
clinics throughout the state and established tele-health services aimed at
meeting the needs of rural veterans. VA is expanding services in the Las Vegas
Area with a new comprehensive VA medical center complex nearing completion in North Las Vegas that will
have a $1.2 billion economic impact to the area and create 1,850 permanent
medical jobs.

NEW MEXICO:

HUD:  On August 22, Secretary Shaun Donovan will
visit a hospital under construction in Rio Rancho. A $143.4 million Section 242
mortgage insurance commitment was issued to finance the construction of the
hospital in Rio Rancho, a suburb 20 miles northwest of Albuquerque. The new facility is affiliated
with the University of New Mexico (UNM), UNM Hospital,
the UNM Medical Group, and the UNM School of Medicine. The loan will finance a
new 200,000-square foot, 68-bed state-of-the-art community teaching hospital
with a high surgical case load on 20 acres of land.  At an interest rate of 6.0 percent, in
comparison to an unenhanced bond interest rate of 7.7 percent, FHA insurance
will save the hospital $64.7 million in interest expense over the life of the
loan.  The construction project will
support 1,877 FTEs in its community and provide an economic stimulus of $386.4
million during the construction period. 
Following construction, the completed project will directly support 445
FTEs and provide a direct annual economic benefit of $85.8 million. 

NORTH CAROLINA:

DOE:
On July 25, Secretary Steven Chu visited Celgard, an innovative and high-tech
battery manufacturing company, in Concord.  Celgard recently expanded their existing
manufacturing facility with support from the Recovery Act to create more than
200 jobs in rural North Carolina.  Celgard is one of the largest suppliers to
the lithium battery industry, which are instrumental in increasing the capacity
of electric drive vehicles and helping reduce our dependence on foreign
oil.  Afterwards, the Secretary was
joined by local business leaders at the University
of North Carolina – Charlotte for a roundtable discussion on the
growing clean energy industry in rural communities.  Like Celgard, the companies that Secretary
met with are critical to our future: to pioneering and commercializing
technologies that reduce our consumption of foreign oil and creating jobs and
supporting economic growth. 

NORTH DAKOTA:

VA:
On July 5, Secretary Shinseki held a rural event in Bismarck
at the VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic where he held a roundtable
discussion to listen to local veterans and highlight the Department of Veterans
Affairs’ efforts to expand access to VA care, benefits, and services in rural America.

OREGON:

CEQ:  On August 9, White House Council on
Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley toured a Federal-County-State funded
partnership with local business and conservation groups that is creating local
jobs and building a renewable energy market in John day, Oregon.  Byproducts from the U.S. Forest Service’s Malheur National Forest
restoration project are used by Malheur Lumber Company and Pellet Plant to
create wood pellets which are in turn used to provide energy to local schools,
the local hospital and John Day
Airport.  Malheur Lumber Company’s recent expansion,
financed in part by a Recovery Act grant, has allowed Grant County, Oregon to
retain 6 percent of its private non-farm workforce. The wood pellets and bricks
manufactured at Malheur Lumber will reduce energy costs by $4.4 million across
the regional economy and represent the economic opportunities presented through
conservation and collaboration between governments and local communities and
businesses.

PENNSYLVANIA:

EPA:  On August 3, Administrator Lisa Jackson
traveled to Lancaster County and visited Jeff Balmer, owner of a 60-head
dairy farm that is using a variety of best management practices to protect
water quality in the community and further downstream in the Chesapeake
Bay. The Administrator toured Jeff’s farm and he explained how
these practices allowed him to prevent runoff and retain soil, making his
operation more efficient and sustainable. The Administrator also participated
in a roundtable discussion with around 50 area farmers and leaders about ways
to protect rural air and water quality and strengthen rural economies.  The Administrator pledged to continue
communicating directly with farmers and other stakeholders in rural communities
about the shared goals of clean air, clean water and increased economic
opportunities rural America.

TENNESSEE:

ED:  On August 10, Secretary Arne Duncan traveled
to Nashville to host a WH Rural Council
roundtable discussion with several rural superintendents, school principals and
business leaders, as well as Gov. Bill Haslam and state Education Commissioner
Kevin Huffman, at Vanderbilt
University. The
conversation focused on challenges and solutions in rural schools and how the
federal government could best support districts, communities and local partners
to strengthen schools and increase student success. Duncan highlighted the ways education can
transform rural economies and the opportunities that technology offers all
students to receive a world-class education no matter where they live.

TEXAS:

USTR:  This fall, Ambassador Kirk will visit the
Texas State Fair, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary from September 30
to October 23.  Held annually at Fair Park in
Dallas, the fair proudly displays the unique
scale and diversity of Texas’
people and products.  Millions of
visitors from all 50 states and many countries around the world flock to Dallas each October to sample the best the Lone Star
State has to offer in
terms of food, fun, and entertainment. Featured attractions include the largest
new car and truck show in the Southwest, legendary livestock exhibitions, major
music concerts, and classic college football. 

VIRGINIA:

OSTP:  On August 5, U.S. Chief Technology Officer
Aneesh Chopra visited Blacksburg
to discuss rural job creation and to hear from local entrepreneurs and business
leaders about ways we can partner to spur job growth in rural communities
across the country. Chopra toured two local startups, made remarks at an event
hosted by the Regional Technology Council, and hosted a roundtable discussion
with local entrepreneurs, business leaders, and other key stakeholders.

WEST VIRGINIA:

SBA:
On July 14, Administrator Karen Mills visited a high tech business that was
named West Virginia’s
small business of the year in 2010. The business, Azimuth, Inc. located in
Fairmount, was started by a service disabled veteran with an SBA loan and grew
through SBA’s 8(a) Federal Contracting Program. 
Azimuth is an impressive manufacturing company, creating rural jobs of
the future focused on protecting our borders. 
It is a high technology services firm that is dedicated to quality,
innovation, and performance and is a strong advocate of teaming, actively
seeking to establish long term strategic alliances with both large and small firms.

WISCONSIN:

USDA:
On August 4, Secretary Vilsack held a forum at the Wisconsin State Fair with
businesses and community leaders, farmers and ranchers to explore ways federal,
state, and local officials can work together to improve economic conditions and
create jobs.   The Secretary took
questions from the audience and highlighted job creation and how agricultural
trade is contributing to Wisconsin’s
economy.

DOI:
On July 14, Secretary Salazar keynoted the National Wildlife System Conference,
where he addressed the Obama Administration’s commitment to working with
ranchers, farmers and other private landowners to ensure protection of large,
rural landscapes and the abundance of fish and wildlife – and announced a new
initiative that will spur these collaborative efforts through community-based
coalitions of private landowners, conservation groups, and state and federal
agencies. The Landscape Stewards program, a partnership with the National Fish
and Wildlife Foundation, will leverage up to $200,000 to support
coalition-based conservation efforts beginning next year, with each grant
matched by equal contributions from the coalition partners – part of President
Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors initiative.

NEW ENGLAND:

DOI:
From August 15-19, Secretary Salazar will travel to the Northeastern United
States to highlight the importance of America’s outdoor economy in creating
jobs and discuss the economic value of conservation for communities across the
country, placing an emphasis on rural areas where protecting vital habitats
contributes greatly to strong local economies. 
The four-state tour will take Secretary Salazar and key partners in the
Senate to Vermont, Rhode Island, Maine, and New Hampshire to meet with outdoor
stakeholders; tour the parks, refuges, and public lands that serve as
recreation destinations for tourists and travelers from around the country –
helping to create jobs in the leisure and hospitality industry; participate in
events that encourage youth to get outside and explore the great outdoors; and
visit the retail shops and outfitters that help power this key section of our
economy.  The Secretary’s trip will focus
on discussions with leaders in Northeastern rural communities about creating
economic opportunities through conservation and outdoor recreation.