USDA Rural Development Partners with Community College Alliance for Agriculture Advancement to Strengthen America’s Rural Workforce
As part of a memorandum of understanding, USDA Rural Development will coordinate with the Alliance to help students develop leadership and job skills through agency internships and networking opportunities. Through this partnership students gain skill sets to help them advance in careers. The partnership will also help to ensure rural communities have skilled leaders and workforce to thrive in the future.

USDA Proposed Rule-Manufactured Housing Provisions
Published in the Federal Register, USDA Rural Development is seeking comments on proposed changes to Handbook 1-3550 and Handbook 1-3555 that would make existing manufactured homes, which meet specific criteria, eligible for financing. In addition, the proposal reduces regulatory burdens related to manufactured housing requirements and provides flexibilities for energy efficient manufactured and modular homes located in land lease communities operating on a non-profit basis. Comments due by October 16, 2023.

Success Story of the Month

Recorded: USDA RD Rural Business and Cooperative Service - “How – To” Video Series. This series is designed to help applicants apply for funding and provides consistency and equity in the application process. The series offers “bite-sized” tips for completing application forms plus support for submitting a successful application!

8/30: Virtual | USDA and University of Kentucky to Host Webinar to Expand Placemaking Resources in Rural Communities

USDA Rural Development and the University of Kentucky offer a webinar for rural leaders to learn about creative placemaking approaches. Creative placemaking integrates arts, culture, and design activities into efforts that strengthen communities. Community leaders and public and private grant funding organizations interested in rural placemaking are encouraged to attend. Register.

8/29: Virtual | CDFA Food Systems Finance Webinar Series: Investment Tools & Food Systems. Explore how programs at the state and federal levels can offer unique financing solutions and catalyze investment in local and regional food systems.

8/31/23: Virtual | Farm to School Local Foods: Institute of Child Nutrition Webinar on Procuring Local Foods. Learn how to procure and incorporate locally sourced foods into the school meal programs. Featuring strategies for sourcing local foods, establishing community partnerships, and addressing procurement challenges. 

9/6-8: Atlanta, Georgia | SSTI 2023 Annual Conference. Made possible in part by the EDA supported TBED Community of Practice, will convene practitioners and policymakers working to create a better future through science, technology innovation and entrepreneurship.

10/25-27: Bentonville, Arkansas | Rural Renaissance Roadshow, presented by Groundswell. Program topics will include energy resilience, solar and land use, energy efficiency and housing preservation, regenerative agriculture, and main street economic development.

10/24-27: Washington, DC | The 2023 National Rural Housing Conference: Build Rural.

11/7: Cleveland, Ohio | The National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) Annual Training Conference.

Build America, Buy America Act (BABAA)
USDA Rural Development (RD) continues to support the implementation of BABAA as it energizes domestic manufacturing, strengthens supply chains, and creates good jobs for people of all backgrounds and experiences across the United States. RD has been approved to offer waivers to help meet BABAA requirements. Please see the waiver section of the webpage, or contact your local RD State Office, for more information.

Greenlights Grant Initiative
The “Just Keep Livin Foundation” program is designed to help school districts access federal funding to create safer schools. They offer links to grants and grant writing resources. 

Dig into your Food Network:

• National Farm to School Network, Farmers Market Coalition, Appalachian Center for Economic Networks, and local food policy councils are all working to help mobilize and uplift the efforts of specific local and regional food systems sectors and initiatives.
• The Farmers Market Coalition (FMC)
  National Farmers Market Week is August 6 through August 12^th. FMC designed a new Toolkit to help communities and Farmers Markets plan for the event!
• The County Role in Food Systems: Local Strategies to Address Hunger, Health and Nutrition: National Association of Counties (NACo) report that provides insight and resources on addressing hunger, nutrition and health to support a whole-of-government approach to improving the nation’s food systems.
• The Dirt is the monthly e-newsletter of the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Program. Stay up to date with the latest information on webinars, grant funding, and farm to school activities going on near you. Subscribe!

Success Stories

7/25: USDA RD Stakeholder Listening Sessions on Decoupling as a Preservation Tool for the Multifamily Housing Portfolio: Stakeholders are invited to provide input on how these changes may impact policies, program requirements and operations under the Multifamily Housing Direct Loans and Multifamily Housing Rental Assistance programs. Stakeholder Announcement.

10/24-27: The 2023 National Rural Housing Conference (NRHC), Washington, DC

A Primer on Affordable Housing Development and Key Funding Sources 
This HUD Exchange resource is intended for community agencies, Continuums of Care (CoCs), service providers and other housing stakeholders who are looking to develop or assist in the development of affordable housing units in rural communities. View additional Rural Homelessness Resources.

Mapping a New Terrain: Five Principles for Equitable Rural Outdoor Recreation Economies
Aspen Institute’s Community Strategies Group offers this “Call to Action” relating the pressure of the short-term rental industry and the rural housing market as homeowners shift to visitors rather than long-term tenants. Challenges can be especially pronounced in recreation communities. Learn about possible housing solutions for recreation economies, like rental housing financed by low-income housing tax credits and community land trusts, to ensure long-term affordability for a sustainable and equitable local economy.

The Housing Assistance Council (HAC)
HAC focuses on developing the capacity of local leaders in nonprofit organizations to help their own communities. This is done by providing formal trainings, offering one-on-one technical assistance, and connecting local organizations to resources that can build their capacity and strengthen their communities.

Housing Counseling Disaster Field Guide: An Action-Oriented Tool for Disaster Response
The HUD Office of Housing Counseling, in coordination with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offer this guide to prepare housing staff for disaster deployment. Additional links to housing disaster resources for housing professionals are obtainable from this site.

Stakeholder Spotlight

Housing Success Stories

PRIDE: A Proclamation on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, And Intersex Pride Month, 2023 | The White House

6/27: USDA RUS IRA Cross-Agency Rural Clean Energy Funding Opportunity Webinar. USDA, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies will host a virtual event for rural stakeholders featuring Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funding and other clean energy resources.

6/29: AIANTA and the U.S. Forest Service will host an informational webinar regarding the Request for Proposals for NATIVE Act Tribal Projects and Initiatives on or Adjacent to U.S. Forest Service Managed Lands. The webinar will include a panel of past grantees and a question and answer session specific to types of projects, timelines, the application process and implementation. See the RFP.  

6/30: Housing Co-ops Discussion: Presented by the Interagency Working Group on Cooperative Development. Join via Microsoft Teams. Food Systems, Real Estate, Child Care and Equitable Co-op Ecosystem Meetings will be future webinar topics.

7/19 & 25: USDA RD Stakeholder Listening Sessions on Decoupling as a Preservation Tool for the Multifamily Housing Portfolio - Stakeholders are invited to provide input on how these changes may impact policies, program requirements and operations under the Multifamily Housing Direct Loans and Multifamily Housing Rental Assistance programs. Stakeholder Announcement. Register ahead - July 19 and July 25.

7/11: The Native CDFIs: Lending Insights, Best Practices, and Policy Considerations.  

Recorded: Housing Solutions in Recreation Communities Webinar. EPA, USDA, and HUD discuss housing in gateway communities. Gateway communities lie just outside or adjacent to major tourist attractions such as national parks, wilderness areas, or nature resorts.