Area cities receive grants
LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Asa Hutchinson, AEDC executive director Mike Preston, AEDC executive vice president of operations Amy Fecher and Rural Services director Alex Johnston presented $246,225 to 21 rural communities selected for funding through the Rural Services Rural Community Grant Program for Fiscal Year 2018. The grant awards were distributed Oct. 10 at an awards ceremony held in the Governor’s Conference Room at the Arkansas State Capitol.
In attendance were representatives receiving an Arkansas Rural Services Block Grant award on behalf of Gravette, Highfill and Sulphur Springs in Benton County. The city of Gravette received $75,000 for a community center. The city of Highfill received $75,000 to renovate its community center. The city of Sulphur Springs received $15,000 to replace windows and doors in the Sulphur Springs Library.
The Division of Rural Services works in partnership with the Arkansas Rural Development Commission to select the Rural Services Rural Community Grant recipients. Incorporated cities and towns and unincorporated communities in rural areas of less than 3,000 in population are eligible to apply for assistance through the Arkansas Rural Community Grant Program.
All Arkansans are invited to attend the 2018 Rural Development Conference in Little Rock May 22-24. Attendees will learn about additional programs and funding opportunities available to Arkansas’s rural communities. More than 75 state legislators will join more than 600 mayors, county judges, other state and federal officials, and community leaders to participate in this annual conference.
For more information about the Rural Development Conference or Rural Services grant programs, contact the Division of Rural Services at 1-888-RURAL-AR.