Grants for Economic Development

Minburn Communications is the recipient of two $300,000 economic development grants from the USDA Rural Development Loan and Grant (REDLG) program which enabled the company to create a $720,000 Revolving Loan Fund.

USDA REDLG program provides zero-interest loans and grants to utilities that lend funds to local businesses and projects that focus to improve the quality of life in rural areas. To qualify for the local funding, businesses and/or projects must contribute to the long-term improvement of the economy that benefits job creation and retention, diversification, improves the education and skills of the local workforce, and upgrades the public infrastructure to improve the health, safety, and/or medical care of rural residents.

Funds Awarded & Loan Repayment Details

Minburn Communications received its first USDA grant in 2015 to establish the Revolving Loan Fund (RLF). The original $300,000 grant was combined with a $30,000 grant from Aureon® via the Ripple Effect program and a $30,000 match by Minburn Communications.

In 2018, Minburn Communications received its second $300,000 USDA grant. Aureon again awarded an additional $30,000 grant and Minburn Communications contributed another match of $30,000 to increase the company’s overall RLF pool to $720,000.

The fund gets its name from the revolving aspect of loan repayment, where the central fund is replenished as individual projects pay back their loans within 10 years, creating the opportunity to issue other loans to new projects.

The first project to benefit from the Minburn Communications RLF grant proceeds was the City of Perry for ten years at zero percent interest. The loan enabled the city to develop a sally port facility, a secure loading/unloading entrance to the city’s police department for the delivery of detainees, and a new garage in which the city can store its police vehicles. With the second RLF funding, Minburn Communications provided a zero-percent interest loan to the Perry Economic Development to be used towards the 30,000 square-foot speculative warehouse in the Perry Industrial Park.

Repayment of the loans allows Minburn Communications to reissue new funds for future projects. The minimum RLF loan available is $25,000 and the maximum is $250,000 and projects must include a minimum of 20% funding from other sources.

Eligible Applicants include any business venture, governmental public body, or non-profit entity involved in a community or economic development project that creates or saves jobs and/or provides needed community facilities that benefit rural areas in the State of Iowa. If you have a qualifying project and meet the eligibility requirements, we encourage you to contact Minburn Communications to learn more.