Rural Microenterprise Funds Available

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USDA announces availability of funding for rural microenterprise

On August 14, 2013 the United States Department of Agriculture announced the availability of funds totaling approximately $12.2 million for the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP).

RMAP provides loans and grants to Microenterprise Development Organizations (MDOs), which in turn provide technical services and distribute microloans to rural microentrepreneurs to support their development. For examples of current microenterprise development organizations and current microloan program recipients, see here.

Applications must be received by the USDA Rural Development State Offices by the deadline of September 13, 2013. Locations of the Rural Development State Offices are included in link above to the announcement. Application materials for grants may be submitted in through grants.gov.

The current round of funding through RMAP allows MDOs to borrow $50,000 at minimum and $500,000 at maximum.  Technical assistance-only grants are capped at $30,000 per grantee.