Appendix 3- Stakeholders and Users.docx

Appendix 3: Stakeholders and Users The information in this Appendix is provided as additional context. More in depth information can be provided post award.

Typical Users

· Rural Development Staff (e.g., program staff in the field offices and national office, finance office, servicing office, General Field Representatives, engineers, etc.)

· Eligible entities to RD programs will at a minimum be using the application intake system for application submission and status, as well as part of the servicing system for reviewing loan information (i.e., customer portal).

· Eligible entities for RD programs include but are not limited to municipal entities, utilities, coops, farmers, small business owners, nonprofits, Native American tribes, public safety entities, education providers, health care providers, individual home buyers/owners, among others.

· Other partner entities that will be direct users include packagers, lenders, external auditors, Treasury, etc.

· FSA Headquarters staff: Review and monitoring of all business processes

· FSA Farm Loan Managers and Officers (FLM/FLO): Origination, underwriting, analysis, limited loan approval, borrower account/portfolio maintenance, routine account maintenance, restructuring/consolidation/deferral servicing

· FSA Farm Loan Chief, Farm Loan Specialists and District Directors (FLC/FLS/DD): Higher loan limit approvals, debt settlement/write-down servicing, management, collections/bankruptcy, loss claims, complex borrower accounts.

· FSA Loan Analysts and Program Technicians (LOA/PT): Application intake, data entry, customer communication, document management, closing preparation, payment processing, routine account maintenance

· FSA County Office Staff (Farm Program staff with FLP roles (e.g., CED with loan approval authority): Initial customer interaction, application intake, payment processing.

· Borrowers (Farmers/Ranchers): Apply for loans, submit documents, view loan status, make payments, apply for servicing options when distressed.

· FSA Financial Accountants & Managers: Accounting, funds disbursement, reconciliation

· FSA/RD Guaranteed Lenders: Apply for guaranteed loans, submit semi-annual status reports and default status reports, provide loss claims.

Stakeholders

· There are a number of entities that benefit indirectly, and these include but are not limited to: rural communities that we serve, state and local governments, housing authorities, USA Spending, Congress, tenants (MFH), CFC, CoBank, NTIA, Do Not Pay, sam.gov, OMB, among others.

· Federal partners include but are not limited to: NTIA, SBA, VA, FCC, DOE, HHS, IHS, GAO, OIG, Treasury, HUD/FHA, FHFA, CFPB, Regional Commissions (i.e., ARC, DRA, etc.), sam.gov, among others.

· Non-Federal partners include but are not limited to: NRWA, RCAP, NRLA, CoBank, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae, Mortgage Bankers Association, NRECA, Credit Bureaus, among others.

· USDA Leadership: Better data for policy and program decisions.

· Congress: Improved oversight through accurate reporting.

· The American Public: Effective stewardship of taxpayer funds and support for the agricultural economy.

· Farmers and Ranchers: Opportunity to obtain vital financial support for the purchase, expansion, development or operational needs of their agricultural operation.

· Farm Credit Services and Agricultural Lending Institutions: For loan underwriting standards, potential lending partnerships, and guaranteed loans.

· Credit Reporting Agencies.

· Third-Party Appraisers.

· RD programs have a number of stakeholders with special accessibility and/or compliance needs, including but not limited to: Colonias, veterans, Tribal colleges, persistent poverty counties, disaster funding, congressional directed spending, small business owners, SUTA, Tribal set asides, Hawaiian Homelands, Rural Alaskan villages, Very Low Income populations (Single Family Housing), Regional Commissions, New and Beginning Farmers, Socially Disadvantaged, cooperatives, REAP, and other administrative priorities.

· Borrowers in rural areas often have limited broadband access; the system must be functional with low bandwidth.

Typical Personas

· Compliance/auditor role

· Borrower: Submits data, views information.

· FSA borrowers are farmers and ranchers who often face challenges getting credit form commercial lenders. Many are new farmers or young producers, while others may be established producers who have had financial setbacks due to weather disasters, market changes or other hardships. These producers turn to USDA as a lender of opportunity, ensuring that people who want to farm, have access to the capital they need. FSA loans are designed to help producers keep their operations running when commercial credit is not available. Borrowers use loan funds to buy land, livestock, equipment, pay for annual operating expenses, refinancing of existing debt and to recover from natural disasters.

· Rural Development borrowers consist of communities, business owners, electric and communication companies and cooperatives, healthcare entities, non-profit housing organizations, non-profit utilities, emergency response entities, and homeowners in rural communities and areas that face challenges in getting credit from commercial lenders. Rural Development also provides guarantees to banks to provide loans for housing, businesses, healthcare, and safe drinking water. These entities support America’s farmers, ranchers, and rural families as they are in and serve rural areas where agriculture is often the largest industry. These customers turn to USDA as a lender of opportunity, ensuring that rural communities and citizens have access to the capital they need to provide access to healthcare, safe drinking water, internet and electric services, housing, food, businesses, and support to recover from natural disasters in rural America.

· Guaranteed Lender: Submits data, views information

· Program Technician: Data entry, document management, communication.

· Farm Loan Official: Financial analysis, underwriting, recommendation.

· Loan Approval Official: Makes final credit decision.

· Farm Loan Manager: Manages active loans, payments, modifications.

· Farm Loan Specialist and Farm Loan Chiefs: Manages active loans, payments, modifications

· National Office User: Manages loans and provides support to both internal and external customers

· System Administrator: Configures users, roles, and business rules.

· Financial Accountant: Manages disbursements, receipts, and general ledger integration.

· Capability to have parent child relationships within a program. Couple of examples:

· The local community may have a variety of things at any one time (loan for water, grant for sewer, loan/grant to buy a new fire truck, etc. So, a variety of programs with different lending tools and different terms/conditions for a single customer.

· As in the example above, city employees may not all need the same views within the system. Need access control for delineation on the customer side too. What the mayor sees may not be what the water dept needs to see.

· Capability to restrict access by user/account. Control access between programs (housing can’t see utilities, etc., so the staff are limited to their work scope)