USDA grants $118M in rural Nevada

The USDA's rural development agency invested nearly $118 million in rural Nevada communities during fiscal 2011.

That translates into creating 213 jobs in business and helping 591families buy a home, according to the director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Sarah Adler.

"If a community has to choose between replacing a pumper truck or renovating their senior center, essential services can be lost," she said. "We try to help keep them whole with lower-cost and longer-term loans."

She said nearly three-quarters of the investment was in the form of loan guarantees for private sector loans. Some $95 million of that was in the form of mortgage loans that helped 591 low- and moderate-income Nevadans in rural parts of the state buy homes.

"This partnership is light on the taxpayers but long on results for rural communities," Adler said.

The funds are provided through Business Development loans, grants and direct loans to businesses as diverse as Marriott Towne Place Suites in Elko and a shrimp farm, Ganix, in Apex.

Another $11.8 million was invested in water and waste systems, infrastructure such as fire stations and senior centers, fire equipment and utility improvements.