PCEDC receives USDA rural business enterprise grant

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — USDA Rural Development State Director Virginia Manuel has announced that the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council (PCEDC) has been selected to receive a rural business enterprise grant in the amount of $68,250.

    USDA Rural Development State Director Virginia Manuel said, “This investment in Piscataquis County Economic Development Council will support economic development and rural small businesses, helping to support the success of this county, which was recently designated one of the counties comprising USDA Rural Development’s Great Region in Maine. I am pleased Rural Development can be a critical partner in establishing opportunities for growth and prosperity in Piscataquis county’s rural communities.”
    Ken Woodbury of the PCEDC said, “We are proud of PCEDC’s partnership with USDA Rural Development in creating new opportunities for secondary lending to new and expanding small businesses in Piscataquis County.”
    Woodbury continued to say, “The establishment of a revolving loan fund by the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council through a grant from USDA Rural Development’s rural business enterprise program will provide new and expanding small businesses access to gap-financing after exhausting all other traditional sources of business loans. This revolving loan fund will increase job creation and job retention in the county with the highest unemployment rate in Maine.”
    The PCEDC will utilize the rural business enterprise grant of $68,250 to assist with the initial capitalization of a revolving loan fund for the benefit of small and emerging businesses, which engage in commercial activity and support related jobs in this very rural area of northern Maine. Ten jobs will be created and four businesses will be assisted.
    USDA Rural Development has been a partner with PCEDC since its inception in 1997, and recently announced the economic development council as an official partner in Maine’s USDA Rural Development Great Region Initiative, which focuses on Aroostook, Piscataquis and Washington counties. Key focus areas are local and regional food systems and the bio-based economy.