Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP), the National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA (NCBA), and the New America Public Interest Technology Team Host Farm Bill Rural Development Innovation Summit and Bring Recommendations to Congress

Washington, DC (April 11, 2018) – The Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP), NCBA CLUSA, New America, and a bipartisan coalition of rural policy leaders submit recommendations for the Rural Development Title in the 2018 Farm Bill to Congress, focused on three priorities, access to capital, infrastructure, and innovation. A coalition of more than forty rural policy leaders throughout the country came together to discuss opportunities and challenges small communities face and shed light on how the future of the Rural Development Title in Farm Bill can continue to help these opportunities flourish and grow. The Farm Bill Rural Innovation Summit welcomed guests from the U.S. Department of Agriculture such as the Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development, Anne Hazlett, and former Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack to share insight and expertise in shaping these recommendations.

“The Rural Development Title in the Farm Bill is crucial to ensuring that the smallest communities across the country have the ability to grow and thrive. At the Farm Bill Innovation Summit, a coalition of organizations came together to put forward innovative ideas across Rural Development initiatives and advocate in a bipartisan and collective voice” stated Nathan Ohle, Executive Director of RCAP. “We look forward to working with Congress in a bipartisan fashion to ensure that the Farm Bill continues to place the smallest communities in the forefront of programs that can create economic opportunity for everyone regardless of where they live.”

Locally-driven, long-term success is necessary for sustained economic growth for rural communities, and with that outcome in mind, RCAP and its partners designated three areas of focus for the 2018 Farm Bill: access to capital, infrastructure, and innovation. These priorities emphasize that the Rural Development Title of the Farm Bill should incentivize investment in rural communities with the greatest need, expand strategies to ensure that all Americans have their basic infrastructure needs like broadband and safe drinking water, and help spur innovation and drive economic opportunity through entrepreneurship and small business growth. RCAP and its partners urge Congressional Farm Bill leaders to make Rural Development a cornerstone of the 2018 Farm Bill.

RCAP is a non-profit organization working to ensure rural and small communities throughout the United States have access to safe drinking water and sanitary wastewater and solid waste disposal. To learn more about this work visit: rcap.org.

RCAC is one of six organizations that make up the RCAP network. RCAC is the Western RCAP operating in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

Contact: Spenser Wempe
Rural Community Assistance Partnership
202-408-1273
swempe@rcap.org