Deputy Secretary Torres Small spent the week in two New England states highlighting the Biden-Harris Administration and USDA’s efforts to rebuild the economy from the middle out and bottom up by helping lower energy costs and generate new income opportunities for rural communities in Connecticut and across the country.
Source: United States Department of Agriculture
Photo: Courtesy
First she joined U.S. Congresswoman Jahana Hayes (CT-05) to tour a Fairfield County vineyard that was awarded a Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grant which will help it to access renewable energy systems and later met with Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) at a Middlesex County farm and then a New London County farm that also received funding from REAP to highlight how the program is advancing affordable and clean energy projects in rural America, cutting costs for producers, and creating good-paying jobs in rural communities.
Later in the week she traveled to New Hampshire and joined U.S. Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) for a roundtable discussion at a local business in Rockingham County where they announced help for Granite State small business owners and producers and after she visited a local community organization that serves meals, known as SUN Meals, as part of USDA’s Summer Nutrition (SUN) programs.
The Deputy Secretary also joined U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan to tour a local childcare facility that was awarded a REAP grant in 2018 to build a solar array and increase energy efficiency through weatherization. She wrapped up her New England tour by visiting with the Northern Border Regional Commission at a project site in northern New Hampshire that received funding through USDA Rural Development.
