Introducing RuralStat
The Rural Maryland Council is pleased to present RuralStat,
an interactive tool we’ve developed with GeoDASH at Salisbury University to track the general health
of individual rural counties and regions in Maryland. RuralStat uses basic
quality-of-life indicators compiled from reliable state and federal sources and
organizes that data to show how each rural county and rural region is doing
compared to itself over time, as well as to other counties, regions and the state.
You decide which counties, regions and indicators to review.
Take a look.
NOTE: You must have Adobe Flash Player and the Active X enabled to view RuralStat.
Download Flash Player
MDA Offers Grants for Speciality Crops
The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) is now accepting applications from
eligible non-profit organizations, government entities, and for-profit organizations
for the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, which funds projects that solely enhance
the competitiveness of specialty crops. The deadline for submission is May 19.
MDA intends to fund projects that can produce the highest degree of measurable benefits
to Maryland specialty crop producers in relation to each dollar spent. More than $387,454
will be awarded - between $5,000 and $20,000 will be awarded for Producer Innovation
grants; a minimum of $25,000 will be awarded for Food Safety and Marketing with
Maryland's Best. Specialty crops are defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture
as fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops.
Visit www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0 for a comprehensive list of eligible specialty crops.
Applicants must reside or their business or educational affiliation must be in Maryland.
MDA will conduct a conference call on March 30 to go over details of the program
for interested applicants. For questions about the grant application, to register
for the conference call, or to download the application,
visit
www.mda.state.md.us/pdf/specialtycrop.pdf, or contact Karen Fedor
at FedorKM@mda.state.md.us or 410-841-5773.
USDA Ready to Guarantee Loans for Rural Businesses
USDA-Rural Development in Maryland/Delaware has about $41 million available
from its business and industry guaranteed loan program to promise before September 30.
The program provides loan guarantees to lending institutions for businesses to
retain or add jobs and improve, develop or buy land, buildings, machinery or
supplies. Seventy percent of the funds that are available in Delaware and Maryland
are a result of the stimulus funding that expires on September 30, 2010. The
stimulus funding has the advantage of offering up to 90 percent guarantees as
opposed to the standard 80 percent. It also has no annual renewal fees and has
a lower guarantee fee of 1 percent as opposed to 2 percent. Any business except
farms, golf courses and those that receive more than 10 percent of their revenue
from gambling are eligible for the loan guarantee. The business must be in an area
with a population of 50,000 or fewer. For more information, contact Bruce Weaver
at (302) 857-3629 or Jeff Allen at (302) 857-3588.
Tree-Mendous Maryland Accepting Spring Orders
The Department of Natural Resources' TREE-mendous Maryland program is now
taking orders for Spring. The Tree-Mendous program makes native trees available
at low prices for organizations that plant them on public lands, such as town
and city streets, parks and school yards, along streams and creeks where they
will attract birds, improve air and water quality, reduce soil erosion, add
beauty to surroundings, and contribute to the quality of life. In some cases,
the TREE-mendous program will arrange for the trees to be planted.
See the Tree-Mendous Order
Form. For more information, contact: Terry Galloway at 410-260-8510 or
tgalloway@dnr.state.md.us
MDP Unveils Required Online Course
The Maryland Department of Planning has released its "Planning Commission,
Planning Board and Board of Appeals Education Course," required by "The Smart and
Sustainable Growth Act of 2009" (SB 280/HB 297). All current members of local
planning commissions and boards and boards of appeals must complete an education
course before July 1, 2010. This is an on-going educational requirement so
new members must complete an education course within six months of their appointment.
The online course is also available on paper and CD-ROM by contacting MDP.
This new requirement applies to all local governments with planning authority.
The law also authorizes counties and municipalities to develop their own educational
course if they choose.
Access the Online Course Here
MAERDAF Grantees Announced
The Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Assistance Fund
(MAERDAF), which is administered by the RMC, has awarded $142,000 in grants to
11 rural-serving nonprofit organizations.
For more information.l
RMC Awards Grants to Six Nonprofits for Rural Families Program
Six rural-serving organizations have been selected to receive a total of $90,748
in grants from the Strengthening the Well Being of Rural Maryland Families Program, a
direct service grant program administered by the Rural Maryland Council and funded
by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Since 2006, the program has awarded $575,000
in grants to 23 rural organizations that help low income rural families become
more economically stable. Now in its fifth year, the program received request for more than three times
available funding -- an indication of the need for more resources in Maryland's
rural communities. For more information
Special RMC Programs
The Rural Maryland Council is pleased to be partnering with the
Maryland Department of Aging to expand the Senior Medicare Patrol program
(an anti-fraud program) into six rural counties that do not currently have one.
Those counties are Garrett, Allegany, Washington, Calvert, Charles and Cecil.
The RMC's partnership with SMP is also working to develop innovative
methods to reach isolated rural populations and finding models that work and
can be replicated in rural areas across the county. The SMPI logo links to a password
protected page, available to SMPI partners only.
The Mission of the Rural Maryland Council is to build a bright future for Rural Maryland
by helping to address its unique concerns. The RMC works towards achieving effective solutions
by bringing together a diverse partnership of federal, state, and local government officials and
representatives from the private nonprofit and for-profit sectors to form a strong collective
voice dedicated to addressing the critical issues facing Rural Marylanders. The success of the
RMC depends on the strength of its Executive Board, membership and Working Committees. Our
general membership includes several hundred people -- each of whom brings a unique perspective,
background, knowledge, and skill set to the table. Any Maryland citizen is eligible to become a
member of the RMC. There is no fee for joining, just fill out an application form, mail or fax
it back to us and we'll be in touch. Click here for a Membership Application.
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