By Clint Thompson
The Rural Partners Network will bridge the information gap between rural America and the federal government. Communities in Georgia will be among the first to benefit.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack, White House Rural Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu and Georgia Congressman Sanford Bishop discussed the new effort on Thursday during a visit with South Georgia community leaders at Albany State University.
“President Biden understands and appreciates the contributions that Rural America makes to the rest of the country. It’s a place where most of our food comes from; where most of the water that we drink comes from; and where the energy that we consume comes from; where we go to recreate and get away from it all. And it’s a place that disproportionately sends sons and daughters into military. It is a place of significance and importance in the United States,” Vilsack said.
“For far too long, many of the programs that have been designed to help and assist have bypassed rural America. The president wants to make sure that as we create opportunity as we have with this historic bipartisan infrastructure bill and the America Rescue Plan, that the resources are made available to rebuild and to Build Back Better, as he would like to say, rural America.”
Network Specifics
The network launches in five states, including Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Mexico and Arizona. The USDA will hire individuals to live and work in those communities. They will connect local residents with government agencies more efficiently.
“In those states, we’ve selected several communities and counties where we know there has been persistently difficult times, high levels of poverty. We know that when you’re in those circumstances, it’s very difficult to access resources because you just don’t know how to play the game,” Vilsack said. “We’re hiring three to five folks in every state. They’re going to work with community leaders and they’re going to say, ‘What’s the plan?’ ‘What’s the vision?’ What opportunities do you think the federal government could be helpful with? What departments need to be engaged?”
Georgia Communities
The USDA has selected the following community networks in Georgia for the Rural Partners Network:
- Emanuel County and City of Twin City Community Network; Ben Hill County and City of Fitzgerald Community Network; and Southwest Georgia Regional Commission Community Network, including the counties of Baker, Calhoun, Colquitt, Decatur, Dougherty, Early, Grady, Lee, Seminole, Miller, Mitchell, Terrell, Thomas and Worth.
“It’s an opportunity to create a network that hasn’t existed before. In the past it’s been, I’ve got to call the DOT guy. I’ve got to call the EPA person. I’ve got to call the congresswoman. Well now no you don’t. You’ve just got to talk to the person who’s living next door to you,” Vilsack said. “It creates a streamlined system. We believe by virtue of that, the resources that are available under the bipartisan infrastructure bill and under the American Rescue Plan can now funnel down and actually be on the ground more quickly, doing the kind of progress that the president and folks across the country want.”
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