Rural economic development grants disaster (redg disaster) - grant

The Department of Agriculture Rural Business Cooperative Services awarded Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation $300,000 on May 28, 2026, under the Rural Economic Development Loans and Grants program (CFDA 10.854), a project grant with performance through May 28, 2028.

Blue Ridge Electric, a tax-exempt electric cooperative based in Lenoir, North Carolina, serves as an intermediary utility organization deploying zero-interest pass-through financing and technical assistance to rural businesses and development projects within its service territory in North Carolina. Under this Rural Economic Development Grants Disaster funding, Blue Ridge Electric delivers eligible activities including project feasibility studies, business start-up funding, business incubator services, and technical assistance designed to generate employment and sustain economic growth in underserved rural communities.

Performance occurs in North Carolina. The program provides funding for rural economic development and job creation through local utility organizations that pass funds to ultimate recipient businesses and projects. Eligible applicants are former Rural Utilities Service borrowers, nonprofit utilities eligible under Rural Development Electric or Telecommunication Programs, current Rural Development borrowers, or electric and telephone utilities with current Rural Utilities Service or Rural Telephone Bank loans and no delinquent federal debt or bankruptcy proceedings.