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Congresswoman Miller Announces Rural Development Partnerships to Benefit Southern West Virginia

June 11, 2019

Washington D.C. – Congresswoman Carol Miller (R-WV) announced today that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) along with the Rural Community Assistance Partnership, will be giving technical assistance to rural communities in Southern West Virginia to help create and implement long-term economic plans over two years.

The first recipient is the Economic Development Center East, where planning assistance will be used to enhance quality of life, combat the opioid crisis, and identify solutions to solve the community's food desert. Citizens of McDowell and Mercer Counties in West Virginia will benefit from this assistance.

The USDA will also provide planning assistance to the Mingo County Redevelopment Authority to update Mingo County's Comprehensive Master Plan to enhance the county's manufacturing, housing, education, tourism, infrastructure, economic development, and emergency services.

Additionally, the City of West Huntington will receive planning assistance to support entrepreneurship and develop a strong industrial economic sector.

Congresswoman Miller said, "I am thankful for President Trump and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue's continued commitment to improving our rural communities. This assistance from the USDA and its partners will help strengthen our economy, build our infrastructure, and combat the opioid crisis plaguing our state. Together we will carry Southern West Virginia into a strong future."

"USDA and its partners are bringing local leaders and economic development experts together to create opportunity in some of the nation's most economically challenged rural communities," Secretary for Rural Development Joel Baxley said. "Under the leadership of President Trump and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, USDA is committed to building prosperity in America's rural cities and towns."

The USDA is providing this assistance through an initiative called Rural Economic Development Innovation (REDI), created to support recommendations identified in the Report to the President from the Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity.

In April 2017, President Trump established the Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity to identify legislative, regulatory and policy changes that could promote agriculture and prosperity in rural communities. In January 2018, Secretary Perdue presented the Task Force's findings to the President. The findings included 31 recommendations to align the federal government with state, local and tribal governments to take advantage of opportunities that exist in rural America.

Issues:Congress