Source:  USDA, 3/9/11

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today issued a report which shows that Recovery Act investments are renewing our Nation's rural areas and providing benefits to the 50 million people who live there. The report, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Working for Rural Communities, shows Federal investments under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) are helping rural communities in all 50 states and in territories extending from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to Guam.

"Not only are Recovery Act projects breathing life into rural economies and putting rural residents back to work, but they are laying a new foundation for growth and economic competitiveness," said Vilsack. The investments made in rural America will help 'win the future.' While these Recovery Act efforts proved vital for the health of our national economy as a whole, they were especially vital to the residents of rural America."

Consistent with the plan President Obama laid out, Recovery Act projects are investing now in rural innovation through clean energy research and technology, in rural education through school improvements and educational reforms, and through the modernization and renewal of transportation, community facilities, water and broadband systems.

Just over two years ago, with the enactment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Congress and the Obama Administration took historic action to firmly counteract the fastest economic decline our Nation had seen since the Great Depression. An electronic version of the report is available by clicking on the link provided: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Working for Rural Communities.

The Department of Housing & Urban Development will also release a report today that points out ways in which the Recovery Act helped position American cities to out-educate, out-innovate, and out-build our competitors. The report, From Recovery to Reinvestment: The Impact of the Recovery Act on America's Cities, details collaborative and innovative approaches initiated during the implementation of the Recovery Act that have laid the foundation for American cities to win the future.