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RURAL DEVELOPMENT The Rural Development Administration (RDA) was created in 1991 by Congress as a new agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The new agency is expected to take a leading role to improve the lives of the millions of people who live and work in our rural areas and to provide overall leadership to USDA's rural development effort. This effort will initially be addressed through the Community and Business Programs (C&BP) formerly administered by Farmers Home Administration (FmHA). For Fiscal Year 1993, Congress appropriated funds to establish the RDA National Office and seven Regional Offices. Until the additional field office structure within RDA is established, the C&BP Programs will continue to be delivered to the public through the FmHA State and District Office structure. The Regional Office will provide oversight for these offices. The seven Regional Offices are located in St. Joseph, Missouri; Klamath Falls, Oregon; Levelland, Texas; Vicksburg, Mississippi; Aiken, South Carolina; Huntington, West Virginia; and Sayre, Pennsylvania. The North Central Regional Office located in St. Joseph, Missouri serves the twelve (12) states of Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming. RDA has been established with a Program Branch and Strategy Branch. The Program Branch addresses the administration of the Community & Business loan and grant programs. These programs cover Water and Waste Disposal, Community Facilities, Business and Industry and various areas of technical assistance. The Strategy Branch provides direction and policy in developing and promoting strategies for rural economic development. In addition, strategy will provide the much needed coordination of government and private assistance to ensure all programs work in concert for the betterment of rural America. For the North Central Region, there will be five State Rural Development Coordinators located in separate field locations. They will work closely with the RDA programs delivery staff, rural communities, agencies, businesses and individuals throughout the twelve states. Under the direction of the Regional Office, each coordinator is responsible for two to three states. RDA is committed to the future of rural America and will carry out its mission to promote economic development by: — Financing needed community facilities and in- January 1993 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 17 frastructure which support community and business growth; We recognize that RDA's actions alone will not be sufficient to enable sustained, long term economic development. Therefore, it is important that we work closely in developing cooperative partnerships with other organizations and agencies (Federal, State & local), both public and private at all levels. By combining the assets of financial assistance, technical knowledge and business expertise from a number of sources, meaningful long term development strategies can be formulated. Local self determination by rural communities and the power of cooperative actions are essential to the success of rural development. Local communities need to assume a leadership role in setting the course of their future development. Without active local leadership, economic development cannot occur. Through close collaboration, positive impacts on rural economic development will be realized. We look forward to the challenge of coordinating rural development efforts throughout the North Central Region. We welcome your comments and suggestions. Please address those to Mr. Larry E. Davis, Regional Director, Rural Development Administration, 2921 N. Belt Highway, St. Joseph, Missouri 64506. • Page 18 / Illinois Municipal Review / January 1993 |
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