Rbdg rural business coop rural enterprise grant

The Department of Agriculture Rural Housing Service awarded Northeastern Vermont Development Association, Inc. $200,000 on March 23, 2026, under the Rural Business Development Grant program (CFDA 10.351) to support sustainable economic development and small business growth in rural Vermont communities.

The recipient, a tax-exempt nonprofit community development corporation based in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, serves Essex, Caledonia, and Orleans Counties in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom region. The award funds activities to facilitate development of small and emerging private businesses that will employ 50 or fewer new employees and have less than $1.0 million in projected gross revenue. Northeastern Vermont Development Association functions as the intermediary recipient and provides technical assistance, business counseling, and grant-driven programs to support local economic development.

Performance runs through March 23, 2028, with all work performed in Vermont. The assistance type is a Project Grant. The Rural Business Development Grant program prioritizes projects located in low-income communities, projects that save existing jobs, projects that create jobs, and projects in areas with high unemployment rates. Grants under this program are made to government entities, private nonprofit corporations, and Federally recognized Indian tribes to assist business-type operations, not directly to businesses themselves.