Rbdg rural business coop rural enterprise grant

The Department of Agriculture Rural Business Cooperative Services awarded $124,000 to Roosevelt-Custer Regional Council For Development on April 9, 2026, under the Rural Business Development Grant program (CFDA 10.351) to deliver business development services and technical assistance to small and emerging private businesses across an eight-county service area in southwestern North Dakota (Adams, Billings, Bowman, Dunn, Golden Valley, Hettinger, Slope, and Stark counties). The award funds feasibility studies, business counseling, market research, and strategic planning services targeting businesses with 50 or fewer new employees and less than $1.0 million in projected gross revenue through April 9, 2028. Roosevelt-Custer Regional Council For Development, a tax-exempt nonprofit community development corporation based in Bowman, North Dakota, serves as the recipient and intermediary, leveraging the grant to facilitate job creation and economic resilience in rural areas experiencing economic distress. Performance occurs in North Dakota. The Rural Business Development Grant program supports sustainable economic development and the formation of small and emerging private business, industry, and related employment in rural communities, with funding priorities including low-income communities, job preservation, job creation, and areas with high unemployment rates.