USDA Rural Development State Director Lucas Ingvoldstad announced the expansion of the Rural Partners Network (RPN) to communities in Nevada. RPN is an all-of-government program that partners with rural people to access resources and funding to create local jobs, build infrastructure, and support long-term economic stability on their own terms.
The announcement is part of President Biden’s commitment to ensure all rural communities can benefit from federal resources, including historic funding provided by the American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring folks throughout rural Nevada have each and every opportunity to succeed and prosper,” Ingvoldstad said. “Rural Nevadans provide the everyday essentials our state and country depend on. By expanding the Rural Partners Network to our state, we can help these important but often overlooked communities receive their fair share of government resources to keep rural folks and economies prepared for the future.”
In Nevada, RPN is expanding to the following community networks:
• Southern Nevada Community Network including Nye and Esmeralda counties
• Sierra Region Community Network including Lyon and Mineral counties
• Moapa Valley Community Network including Clark County and cities of Moapa, Moapa Valley, Overton, Logandale, and Bunkerville
• Nevada 95-80 Regional Development Community Network including Humboldt and Pershing counties
• Southern Clark County Community Network including Clark County and cities of Laughlin, Searchlight, and Cal-Nev-Ari
In addition to Nevada, USDA today announced RPN is launching in communities in Alaska, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Puerto Rico. Last week, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced RPN communities in North Carolina. RPN helps establish community networks in rural areas where local leaders and residents collaborate with civic and business organizations, nonprofits, service providers, development agencies and others to create new opportunities and build on the diversity of a region’s population and perspectives.
The Rural Partners Network launched in April 2022 in 14 communities in Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Mexico and Native American communities in Arizona.
Community networks within these states and those announced today will receive on-the-ground support from full-time federal staff members assigned to provide technical assistance tailored to the community’s unique needs and objectives. These community liaisons live and work in the rural communities they serve, allowing them to develop partnerships with local leaders to promote growth and prosperity for rural families and local communities.
These federal staff members will help rural communities navigate federal programs, build relationships, and identify community-driven solutions, and develop successful applications for funding.
Additionally, RPN includes an-all -of government strategy supported by more than 20 federal agencies and commissions, working closely together with each other, rural communities, and existing programs and policies. Communities also benefit from coordination through other federal efforts such as the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization and President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative. The Rural Prosperity Interagency Policy Council, co-led by the White House Domestic Policy Council and USDA, advises the RPN program and escalates lessons learned through RPN for policy consideration. A team of Rural Desk Officers representing each participating federal agency or regional commission supports the RPN program and the selected community networks.
To deliver on the promise to make federal resources more readily available to underserved communities across rural America, the Biden-Harris Administration is seeking additional federal funding in order to expand the Rural Partners Network to additional places in fiscal year 2023. Information about the Rural Partners Network is available online at Rural.gov.
