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Author: Rhett Battle
Through the bipartisan Infrastructure Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Control Inflation Act, the federal government has made historic investments to support communities and small businesses across America. This helps all Americans, including those living in rural areas.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach when supporting small businesses. Solutions are optimally tailored to meet the needs of entrepreneurs in different markets, industries and geographies. What works on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Cesar Chavez Boulevard, and Chinatown is different from what is needed in rural areas, where population densities are lower and commute times can be longer. To meet the needs of these businesses, employees, and customers, his three pieces of legislation on the U.S. Investment Agenda include special programs tailored to rural areas. Among them, we will introduce five that particularly stood out.
1. Investing in regional committees
The bipartisan Infrastructure Act would create six federally chartered regional commissions, federal and state, aimed at creating opportunities for self-sustaining economic development and improved quality of life in economically distressed areas. has invested $1.38 billion in partnerships. Their service area is mostly rural, and the Appalachian Regional Commission is the largest, serving her 13 states that are part of Appalachia. Funding under the bipartisan Infrastructure Act will support regional commissions and their efforts to support local business development, workforce improvement, and tourism expansion.
2. Rural energy upgrades
One of the challenges facing rural areas is outdated energy infrastructure. The bipartisan Infrastructure Act provides $8.8 billion for two new Department of Energy programs that will fund state and tribal rebate programs that encourage energy efficiency improvements for low- and moderate-income households. The legislation also allocates $3.5 billion for weatherization assistance programs to help low-income households improve their homes’ energy efficiency. Additionally, the Inflation Control Act creates or extends more than 20 tax credits for individuals and businesses to transition to clean energy, including 30% of the cost of installing rooftop solar panels and eligibility for electric vehicles. Includes up to $7,500 in tax credits for households with
3. Grant program
While the needs of underserved communities vary, a constant challenge is the need to access capital without incurring large amounts of debt. The Investing in America Agenda helps address this issue by making the vast majority of available financing opportunities grant-based. For example, of the financing opportunities in rural areas, 83.8% are grant-based, and the remaining 7.2% is a combination of loans and grants.
4. Justice 40
One of the first initiatives launched under the Biden-Harris administration is to divert 40% of all profits from certain federal investments to marginalized, underserved, and overburdened communities. The Justice 40 initiative set the goal of spending money on underprivileged communities. A Brookings Institution analysis suggests that 43% of the rural programs in these three bills identified in the analysis are part of Justice 40, giving them greater pathways to access them. It has been.
5. Planning and technical assistance
The Biden-Harris administration is also investing $177 million in 16 technical assistance centers across the country to help rural communities access technical assistance to help with limited staffing and access to expertise. These three pieces of legislation also invest more than $1.2 billion in technical assistance programs across her five programs at the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Transportation.
Beyond these three laws, there are other programs aimed at supporting local businesses and their communities. If you are a rural entrepreneur and would like to learn about the opportunities available to you, visit Rural.gov to learn more.
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