Delta News Round-up

Chairman Caldwell Year-End Message

As we close out 2018, the entire Delta Regional Authority staff is grateful for the many contributions from our key stakeholders. Support from our local, state and federal partners – including our congressional delegation and governors – allowed our agency to make great strides in improving our programs and investments.

Our goal is to continue enhancing collaboration with our public and private partners so we can increase productivity, raise wages, enable industries to become more globally competitive and help attract new industries that want a well-trained and skilled workforce.

Here are some of our key accomplishments in 2018:

• Invested nearly $25 million in 88 projects.
• Helped created and retain 5,200 jobs.
• Improved infrastructure to support nearly 150,000 families.
• Conducted three Innovative Readiness Training missions that treated 4,600 patients.
• Provided 163 doctors to work improve healthcare.
• Supported 10 rural hospital with technical assistance.
• Surpassed 550 members for our Delta Leadership Network.

I am proud of the improvements we’ve made in the budget, where we have worked to streamline administrative operations. That’s allowed DRA to provide greater efficiencies at lower costs, which makes more money available to invest in the region.

Our staff has been hard at work in 2018 to deliver the services, initiatives and investments that make a meaningful difference in the lives of the 10 million folks who live in the Delta. We’re looking forward to being even better in 2019.

Thank you for your support, and we hope you and your families have a blessed holiday season,

Chris Caldwell

DRA Invests $1 Million to Extend Broadband in Missouri

The Delta Regional Authority is investing $1 million to help build a world-class broadband network in eight counties in the Missouri Bootheel. The underserved communities will receive an additional $15.5 million investment from two electric cooperatives that have pledged to deliver fiber-to-the-home broadband that will enhance economic development opportunities for rural communities, many of which do not currently have broadband service.

SEMO Electric Cooperative of Sikeston will build a fiber network to deliver broadband service to Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Mississippi, New Madrid, Scott and Stoddard counties, reaching 3,374 residents and multiple employers in the service territory. DRA is contributing $250,000 to the effort, with another $8.5 million being invested by other partners. SEMO Electric has committed $40 million to the project.

Pemiscot-Dunklin Electric Cooperative in Bragg City will extend broadband to residents and businesses in Dunklin, Pemiscot and parts of New Madrid counties. The project is projected to reach 7,517 homes while also providing broadband to businesses and farms in the area. DRA is contributing $750,000 to the buildout and another $6.7 million is being contributed by other partners. The coop projects it will cost $30 million to complete the initiative.

Through this expansion, many Bootheel communities will receive broadband service for the first time and will gain new opportunities to expand business growth, increase economic competitiveness and help retain residents and jobs. DRA investments will benefit families, businesses, farms, businesses, hospitals, schools and libraries.

Delta I-Fund meeting in Jonesboro, AR

DRA Chairman Chris Caldwell joined Delta-region leaders at the A-State Delta Center for Economic Development in Jonesboro this month to discuss agriculture initiatives that can create more economic development opportunities across the region. The two-day conference, led by Winrock International’s Delta I-Fund and AgLaunch of Memphis, include cohort teams from Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana and Tennessee.

The Delta I-Fund offers three resources to create opportunities for early-stage entrepreneurs:

• Virtual, one-on-one training
• A dedicated mentor
• $5,000 in technical assistance

During the kickoff weekend, agtech entrepreneurs learned the basics of lean startup methodology, including how to gather data from potential customers. Over the next ten weeks, the Delta I-Fund will work with the cohort teams to help them make a “go or no-go-decision” to start their businesses.

Other participants in the session included the University of Arkansas Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, AgLaunch of Memphis as well as Chamberlain Research, which advises numerous entrepreneurial efforts.

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Announcements From Our Partners:

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is offering up to $600 million in loans and grants to help build broadband infrastructure in rural America. Telecommunications companies, rural electric cooperatives and utilities, internet service providers and municipalities may apply for funding through USDA’s new ReConnect Program to connect rural areas that currently have insufficient broadband service. Click here for more information.
• U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the “OneUSDA Internship” opportunity for Summer 2019. As part of the Federal Pathways Program, the OneUSDA Internship will provide students a way to explore serving their country through a career in government while gaining work experience in agriculture, natural resources, rural development, and other career fields. Click here for more information.
• The Health Resources and Services Administration is accepting applications to award grants through its 2019 Rural Residency Planning and Development program. The grant program helps develop new rural residency programs or Rural Training Tracks in family medicine, internal medicine and psychiatry to support expansion of the physician workforce in rural areas. Click here for more information.
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making available $1.5 million for grants that will be distributed to approximately 50 community-based organizations nationwide that will work to address environmental justice issues in local communities. Each recipient will receive up to $30,000 for one-year, community-driven projects that engage, educate, and empower communities to better understand local environmental and public health issues and to identify ways to address these issues at the local level. Click here for more information.
• The Health Resources & Services Administration is offering grants for a second round of the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program. The program supports treatment for and prevention of substance use disorder, including opioid use disorder, in rural communities. More information on eligibility and requirements can be found in the Notice of Funding Opportunity.
• The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Federal Office of Rural Health Policy is offering an opportunity to apply for funding for small rural hospitals. The Small Rural Hospital Improvement Program (SHIP) application cycle is open through Jan. 3, 2019. This program supports eligible hospitals in meeting value-based payment and care goals for their respective organizations, through purchases of hardware, software and training. Click here for more information.

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