Moab, Utah has seen its fair share of boom times. First it was the uranium boom in the 1960s and 70s, when prospectors flooded Moab to mine the nuclear fuel, and trailer camps dotted the desert landscape. Then it was the tourism boom of the 2010s, when the Mighty Five campaign drew visitors from near and far to Utah’s five stunning, red-rock national parks. 

However, these boom times have only led to bust for affordable housing. Like many other gateway communities, which serve as entry to the great outdoors, Moab’s housing market continues to suffer in the shadows of its nearby natural beauty.

“What happens is the housing stock that should be there for the locals gets turned into nightly rentals for tourists, or second or third homes,” said Rikki Epperson, executive director of Community Rebuilds, a Moab-based affordable housing nonprofit. “There are so many homes that are vacant most of the year.”  Layer on a pandemic and a major economic downturn, and the year-round residents of Moab — people like teachers, firefighters and healthcare workers — are left with minimal affordable housing options beyond the outdated uranium trailer homes. 

Transforming those trailer homes into affordable, energy efficient housing is exactly how Community Rebuilds found its footing. Over the past two decades, the nonprofit has built 73 homes across five counties, housing 91 people and teaching hundreds more about renewable energy and sustainable construction.

“Community Rebuilds and the Mutual Self-Help Program we operate with is just the best thing Moab has to offer as far as buying a house that’s more than half the cost of any other homes on the market,” Epperson said in an interview on the Rural Business Show. On the podcast, Epperson discussed the rural housing crisis and the innovative model her organization is using to make homeownership attainable for residents in gateway communities like Moab; Bluff, Utah; and Crested Butte, Colorado.  

How It Works

Community Rebuilds has developed an innovative, low-tech model to increase affordable housing stock that leverages streamlined architectural designs, natural and recycled materials, and volunteers who want to learn more about sustainable construction. The program helps established residents with low or very low incomes apply for subsidized loans through the USDA Rural Development. Many homeowners Community Rebuilds works with will qualify for 502 Direct Loans, which are low-interest, no down payment loans with optional subsidies. Then, qualified homeowners work with volunteers and instructors to build their own homes from the ground up. 

“All of our homeowners are owner builders,” Epperson said. “We’re just giving them guidance and managing the participation around that so it’s fair, modest, affordable and successful.” However, homeowners don’t need to know how to frame a house or install plumbing. “We also run a building school to teach people who have maybe never even swung a hammer before,” Epperson said.   

Homeowners are required to contribute an average of 100 hours per month of sweat equity, though they can recruit friends and family to help fulfill up to 50% of that requirement. The rest of the labor is provided pro bono by Community Rebuilds. The nonprofit passes on this equity to homeowners in the form of a second lien, which is distributed back to homeowners at a rate of 5% per year for 20 years. In combination with a restriction on nightly rentals and other income producing activities like farming, this serves to protect affordability and encourage long-term ownership.   

“The biggest fatal flaw is that shelter is seen as asset,” Epperson said. “We all buy real estate, and if we’re in the position to, we’ll buy more real estate because it’s the best way to invest your money. If you can take that out of the equation, and shelter can be viewed as shelter, and it can be offered to everybody — that would be the dream.” 

Affordability That Lasts 

With an eye on long-term community investment, Community Rebuilds is also focused on using low-carbon, natural building materials like straw bale and blown cellulose, an insulation made from recycled newspapers. 

“In the hot sun in the desert, if you put your hand under the sand, it’s cool. That’s the thermal mass factor,” Epperson said. “It’s the best way that we’ve found to have a home that works with the environment to keep the home comfortable on the inside.” 

Community Rebuilds homes start with conventional framing techniques and typically feature at least one thermal mass wall to collect heat from the sun during the day and release it at night. “For the last few years, we’ve given homeowners the option for a straw bale wall on the south side, so they can get all the passive solar sun,” Epperson said. “They are just beautiful, but they actually do have other benefits besides just being pretty.” 

In addition to passive solar energy, the homes are thickly insulated and equipped with active solar energy as well, allowing homeowners to keep utility bills and costs of living down. Epperson estimated that homeowners pay an average monthly fee of $9-15 for all utilities. The result is a home that is both financially sustainable and climate conscious.  

“I became a homeowner with the program 11 years ago, and I’ve been a superfan ever since,” said Nancy Morlock, who now serves as program manager at Community Rebuilds. “I can tell that we help stabilize the community. We have built for teachers and all sorts of townspeople, and it warms my heart to see that happening.” 

Learn More About Community Rebuilds 

To learn more about the Community Rebuilds model for affordable housing or get involved, visit communityrebuilds.org.

Listen to the full interview here and connect with listeners of the Rural Business Show on X and Facebook.

The post Building Stability: This Nonprofit is Transforming Affordable Housing in Moab appeared first on Rural Business.

It’s been a while since we’ve recorded an episode of The Rural Business Show. It’s been a year of change for our business, Nevada Central Media, as we went from publishing one rural weekly newspaper to four.

This episode of the Rural Business Show focuses on the business of small-town news. The challenging environment has seen thousands of rural newspapers close their doors in the last decade. However, community news is not dead, and many publishers have successfully navigated this rapidly changing landscape.

One of those is Vernon Robison, former publisher of the Mesa Valleys Progress. Vernon owned the Progress from 2004 until we purchased it from him just a few months ago. In our conversation, Vernon reflects on his time running the Progress, why he decided to move on after 20 years and the challenges and rewards of the newspaper business. 

The post Episode 52: The Rural News Business appeared first on Rural Business.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Under Secretary Dr. Basil Gooden announced that USDA is inviting applications for grants to strengthen rural cooperatives that serve and are made up of people who are part of socially disadvantaged groups in rural areas.

USDA is making the $3 million in grants available under the Socially Disadvantaged Groups Grant program to help new and existing cooperatives strengthen their hands-on assistance, like leadership training and strategic planning, to small business owners and agricultural producers. This program is part of USDA’s commitment to ensuring that people of all backgrounds have the resources they need to thrive.

Rural cooperatives and Cooperative Development Centers are eligible to apply for grants to provide assistance to rural small business owners and agricultural producers from socially disadvantaged groups. The maximum award is $175,000.

USDA is particularly interested in applications that will advance the Biden Administration’s priorities to:

• Reduce climate pollution and increase resilience to the impacts of climate change through economic support to rural communities.
• Ensure all rural residents have equitable access to Rural Development (RD) programs and benefits from RD-funded projects; and
• Help rural communities recover economically through more and better market opportunities and through improved infrastructure.

Additional information on these key priorities is available at https://www.rd.usda.gov/priority-points.

Electronic applications must be submitted to grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on June 3, 2024.

Interested applicants are encouraged to contact their local USDA Rural Development State Office well in advance of the application deadline to discuss their project and ask any questions about the program or the application process. Contact information for state offices can be found at http://www.rd.usda.gov/contact-us/state-offices.

Additional information on how to apply is available on page 22979 of the April 3, 2024, Federal Register.

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U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Under Secretary Dr. Basil Gooden announced USDA is accepting applications until May 21, 2024, for funding under the ReConnect Program.

This is the fifth round of funding under the program, which provides loans and grants to bring high-speed internet to the most remote and difficult-to-serve rural and Tribal communities in America.

A total of $700 million is available under four funding categories:

• Up to $200 million is available for loans.
• Up to $200 million is available for loan/grant combinations.
• Up to $150 million is available for grants.
• Up to $150 million is available for grants serving Alaska Native corporations, Tribal governments, colonias, persistent poverty areas and socially vulnerable communities.

USDA is making several program improvements for this round of funding. For instance:

• USDA will award priority points to applications proposing to serve areas in states with
  the highest concentrations of Unserved Broadband Serviceable Locations (UBSLs).
• Organizations, including Tribes, that can meet robust financial tests will have increased
  ability to streamline the required elements in a ReConnect application.
• At least 90% of households within a proposed service area must lack sufficient access to high-speed internet, which is now defined as fixed, terrestrial high-speed internet speeds of 25 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 3 Mbps upload.

Applications must be submitted electronically through the application system at usda.gov/reconnect by 11:59 a.m. ET on May 21, 2024.

More information is available in the Federal Register and on Grants.gov.

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Through REAP Technical Assistance Grants, USDA Rural Development offers hands-on assistance to agricultural producers and small business owners applying for Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) funding, which aims to lower energy costs and make energy efficiency improvements in rural areas.

This assistance is made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act.

Eligible recipients for these grants include state, Tribal or local governments; colleges and universities; electric cooperatives and utility companies; and nonprofit organizations.

Recipients may use the funds to:

• Help rural agricultural producers and small business owners apply for REAP funding.
• Provide information on how business owners and agricultural producers can improve the energy efficiency of their operations and use renewable energy technologies and resources.
• Conduct required energy assessments and audits.
• Help agricultural producers and small business owners with planning construction and development of renewable energy or energy efficiency projects.
• Assist with the completion of environmental reports and/or documentation required for submittal of applications.

Contact Laura Chavez at [email protected] to learn more or ask further questions.

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Housing continues to be a difficult challenge for rural communities. Often, jobs are unfilled because of a lack of adequate and affordable housing. Attracting builders is a challenge as is an increasing number of units being used as vacation properties.

Community Rebuilds based in Moab, Utah addresses these challenges by building energy-efficient, affordable homes. The organization has created an innovative social enterprise, building affordable housing by taking several steps to reduce the cost of construction and lowering utility costs.

Rikki Epperson is Community Rebuilds’ Executive Director. She recently joined me to talk about rural housing, what we are getting right or wrong with providing it, and how her organization is contributing to positive change in this important industry.

Photos courtesy of Community Rebuilds

The post Episode 51: Rural Housing appeared first on Rural Business.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that USDA is accepting grant applications for community-driven programs that will help create high-wage jobs and new businesses in underserved rural communities.

The Rural Innovation Stronger Economy (RISE) program encourages regional, innovation-driven approaches to economic development by funding job accelerator partnerships in low-income and underserved rural communities.

For fiscal year 2024, the program is making approximately $2 million available to partnerships of local governments, investors, industry, institutions of higher education, and other public and private entities in rural areas. The funding may be used to support innovation centers and job accelerator programs that improve the ability of distressed rural communities to create high-wage jobs, form new businesses, and identify and maximize local assets.

USDA encourages applications that serve the smallest communities with the lowest incomes. USDA is particularly interested in applications that will advance Biden-Harris Administration priorities to:

• Reduce climate pollution and increase resilience to the impacts of climate change through economic support to rural communities.
• Ensure all rural residents have equitable access to Rural Development (RD) programs and benefits from RD-funded projects; and
• Help rural communities recover economically through more and better market opportunities and through improved infrastructure.

The deadline to submit applications is 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, April 1, 2024. Applications must be submitted through Grants.gov. Potential applicants may submit a concept proposal for review by the agency to Grants.gov no later than 4:30 p.m. local time Feb. 1, 2024.

The minimum award amount per grant is $500,000. The maximum award amount per grant is $2 million.

For additional information, see page 43 of the Jan. 2, 2024, Federal Register.

Applicants are encouraged to contact their nearest USDA Rural Development State Office ahead of the application deadline for more information about the program or the application process.

USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities and create jobs in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural areas. For more information, visit www.rd.usda.gov.

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With the loss of local news media, rural perspectives are at risk of fading away. Several groups in Minnesota are banding together to change that.

The United States has lost more than two newspapers per week since 2005, according to Northwestern University’s “State of Local News 2023.”  Over 200 counties around the country do not have a single news source, and most of those communities are rural. Not only does this make critical information more difficult to access, but it also means rural voices are less likely to be heard on both local and national stages.  

Recognizing this threat, communities in Minnesota are working together to host Rural Voice, a series of town halls designed to spark conversation and elevate rural perspectives. At each event, residents convene to discuss rural issues in a conversation moderated by Minnesota Public Radio’s Kerri Miller. 

“The exciting thing is the communities come together, and there’s camaraderie there. There’s problem solving. There’s sharing of ideas,” said Teresa McFarland, founder of McFarland Communications, and a creator of Rural Voice. “When we leave, we’ve heard from these communities that the town is still buzzing from what happened.” 

The Rural Business Show recently welcomed McFarland and Rural Voice co-creator Tim Penny,  president and CEO of Southern MN Initiative Foundation, to get an inside look at the series and find out what they’ve learned after two years of rural conversations. 

Building a Platform for Rural Voices

Rural Voice started as a direct response to the need to create dialogue and better understand how today’s issues affect rural populations. “I think rural residents feel undervalued,” Penny said. “A lot of people don’t know about rural and don’t appreciate the degree to which Minnesota isn’t Minnesota without everything that rural brings to the table.” 

To get the concept off the ground, Penny approached the state’s rural foundations to join the effort, as well as a handful of funding partners, including Otto Bremer Trust and Compeer Financial. Today Rural Voice partners also include Cherry Road Media, the Center for Rural Policy and Development, and Minnesota Public Radio, which helps broadcast content from the discussions to a broader audience.  

“Truth be told, a lot of the listenership for Minnesota Public Radio is metro, and so it’s really getting the rural voice into a metro audience,” Penny said. 

The topics are chosen in part by the rural foundations, with input from major funders and partners, as well as series creators. The only requirement is that the discussions highlight issues in which rural communities may have a distinct point of view or face distinct challenges and opportunities. Now in its second year, recent themes for Rural Voice were affordable housing, mental health, workforce issues and entrepreneurship.  

“These are not partisan discussions,” McFarland said. “These are real discussions about real issues that are affecting people.” 

Conversations that Resonate 

The series has proved rural residents have an appetite for discussion and plenty to share. “We’ve learned that communities really appreciate the opportunity to come together around these issues,” Penny said. McFarland added: “The after effects of that I don’t think are going to stop because we left.”  

This year, the conversations highlighted how healthcare and broadband access remain among the most pressing challenges faced by rural communities. However, residents also brought an immense amount of creativity, energy and entrepreneurial spirit to address those challenges and others, according to Penny and McFarland. Many of the events highlighted local entrepreneurial efforts and emerging business needs. 

“This new economy and the ability to work remotely, it gives some hope for even the smallest of towns,” Penny said. Future discussions may elaborate on how to diversify rural economies, especially as populations grow and change. 

And it seems Rural Voice is just getting started. Many other communities have reached out to host their own town halls, and the series has plans to expand beyond Minnesota in future seasons. “There’s lots of things going on outside of metro areas that we need to hear about,” McFarland said. “And it’s exciting for [rural communities] to be able to share their stories.” 

Learn More 

To tune into past town hall discussions and learn about future events, visit ruralvoice.org.  
Listen to the full interview here and connect with listeners of the Rural Business Show on X and Facebook.

The post Capturing America’s Rural Voice: Town Hall Series Empowers Rural Communities appeared first on Rural Business.

A community-based organization called the Arkansas Human Development Corporation (AHDC) is bridging resource gaps in rural communities to help small business owners access resources, grow and innovate.  

AHDC was founded 52 years ago to provide workforce development services to farm workers displaced by industrialization. Over the years, the organization has expanded into housing development, entrepreneurship resources, health outreach and more. Today it hosts conferences throughout the state to bring rural business owners together so they can network, learn from each other and access local financial resources and opportunities. 

“A lot of times, small business owners just don’t have the time to run their businesses, take care of their employees and products and then go out of the area to seek those resources,” said Clevon Young, executive director of AHDC, on the Rural Business Show. “Community-based organizations stepped in [to close] the gap for them in many instances.” 

Young has been with AHDC for nearly four decades. He grew up in Helena-West Helena, Arkansas (population: 9,149), a small rural community on the Mississippi River, where he witnessed rural depopulation in real time. This motivated Young to get involved with community-based organizations making positive change in rural towns like AHDC.

“I now see it as part of my mission and calling,” Young said. 

The Power of Collaboration 

AHDC’s mission is rooted in collaboration and that’s what has made the organization so successful, according to Young. “We try to make certain that we are interactive, that we’re participatory, that we reach out to our community partners and other nonprofit organizations,” he said. 

Most recently, the agency hosted the Northwest Arkansas Hybrid Rural Business Development Conference, in partnership with the Arkansas Small Business & Technology Development Center (ASBTDC), the Arkansas Business Navigator Program, the U.S. Small Business Administration and FORGE Community Loan Fund. The event brought 20 cross-sector organizations together to share strategies, resources and opportunities with local business owners, who can then bring those ideas and resources back to their communities. After the event, AHDC also provided follow-up media to help generate additional interest. 

The conference included a lenders roundtable, featuring a full range of lenders, from traditional to micro to SBA specialty. Representatives discussed strategies for business owners to approach lenders and build relationships, as well as unique, under-the-radar opportunities for funding. “Our whole effort there is to try and build relationships and connections, so that people lose that fear of approaching financial institutions,” Young said. 

AHDC events also serve as a platform to help business owners connect, exchange ideas and amplify their reach. For example, the owners of Delta Dirt Distillery, a family-owned vodka distillery in Helena-West Helena, spoke at a past AHDC conference to share their story and best practices with other entrepreneurs. The event helped facilitate new connections for the distillery, which resulted in more foot traffic and tourism around the distillery, local media coverage and more. Now the business is expanding and adding a restaurant next door. 

Strategies for Success in Rural Arkansas 

Based on his experience working in rural communities around the state, Young told listeners the most effective way to empower local businesses is by forming a core team of community leaders who can work on local issues, attend state meetings and seek out resources. This strategy has helped rural communities address infrastructure issues, crime, resource development and community engagement.   

“Being collaborative, and being innovative, creative and willing to venture out and bring resources back into the community is a big plus,” he said. 

Learn More 

Visit arhdc.org or call 501-374-1103 to learn more about AHDC’s work in Arkansas and upcoming events.  

Listen to the full interview here and connect with listeners of the Rural Business Show on X and Facebook.

Photo Credit: Roberto – stock.adobe.com

The post Bridging the Gap: Connecting Rural Business Owners to Opportunity appeared first on Rural Business.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will host a series of listening sessions this winter. The agencies invite perspectives on the benefits and challenges of the rapidly increasing levels of clean energy being sited on agricultural lands and in rural communities.

USDA and DOE seek feedback directly from a diverse set of stakeholders about what the agencies can do through their leadership, program guidance, or research and information sharing to encourage positive clean energy siting outcomes that benefit farmers, rural Americans, the renewable energy industry and others.

Stakeholders can register to participate in public listening sessions that are available virtually by clicking on the selected date and time:

• Government permitting and policy representatives at state, county, and local levels on Jan. 12, 2024, at 12:30 – 2:00 p.m. ET Government Permitting and Policy Representatives, Register Here
• Agricultural producers on Jan. 16, 2024, at 10 – 11:30 a.m. ET. Agriculture Producers, Register Here
• All stakeholders and members of the public on Jan. 16, 2024, at 2:30 – 4:00 p.m. ET. All Stakeholders, Register Here
• Rural electric coops and clean energy developers on Jan. 17, 2024, at 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. ET. Energy Organizations, Register Here

Stakeholders may submit written comments by Jan. 20, 2024, to [email protected].

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