Cultivating The Leader Within - Minority Enterprise Executive Council

South Dakota
Codington-Clark Electric Cooperative, Inc. – $9,013,000.
Funding will be used to build and improve 87 miles of
distribution line and make other system improvements. The
loan amount includes $965,953 in smart grid projects.
Tennessee
Tennessee Valley Electric Cooperative – $6,912,000. Funds
will be used to build and improve 406 miles of distribution line
and make other system improvements.
Since taking office, President Obama’s Administration has
taken significant steps to improve the lives of rural Americans
and has provided broad support for rural communities.
The Obama Administration has set goals of modernizing
infrastructure by providing broadband access to 10 million
Americans, expanding educational opportunities for students
in rural areas and providing affordable health care. In the long
term, these unparalleled rural investments will help ensure
that America’s rural communities are repopulating, selfsustaining
and thriving economically.
USDA, through its Rural Development mission area,
administers and manages housing, business and community
infrastructure and facility programs through a national
network of state and local offices. Rural Development has
an existing portfolio of more than $165 billion in loans and
loan guarantees. These programs are designed to improve
the economic stability of rural communities, businesses,
residents, farmers and ranchers and improve the quality of
life in rural America.
Agriculture Secretary Vilsack
Highlights New Job Creation Opportunities
for Agriculture and Manufacturing through
Development of Biobased Products
Recent Presidential Action Would Give Companies Making Products
Using Agricultural Materials Federal Procurement Preferences
Contact:
USDA Office of Communications (202) 720-4623
CLEVELAND, Ohio, March 16, 2012-- Agriculture Secretary
Tom Vilsack today visited the Sherwin-Williams John G. Breen
Technology research facility in Cleveland to highlight how the
growing biobased products industry is creating new economic
opportunities for Ohio agriculture and manufacturing. Sherwin
Williams is developing new, biobased paints using soybeans,
an example of how agricultural products grown by America’s
farmers are being used to make products for consumers,
creating jobs on the farm and in the manufacturing and retail
sectors. Vilsack was joined at the event by Ohio U.S. Senator
Sherrod Brown and Chris Connor, Chairman and CEO of the
Sherwin-Williams Company.
“The biobased products sector marries the two most
important economic engines for rural America: agriculture
and manufacturing,” said Vilsack. “Ohio has an emerging
biobased-manufacturing industry, with nearly 150
companies in Ohio already producing biobased products.
Using agricultural commodities grown by farmers, right
here in the Midwest, Ohio has the potential to lead the
nation in the creation of new biobased products and create
sustainable economic opportunities for the entire region.”
Though the industry is in its early stages, today nearly
3,100 companies are producing more than 25,000 biobased
products. Last month, President Obama issued a Presidential
Memorandum to create jobs through increased procurement
of biobased products by the federal government. In 2011,
USDA announced the designation of 14 additional biobased
product categories that are eligible for federal procurement
preference.
Last year the Sherwin-Williams Company was awarded the
Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award. The award
from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA) on behalf
of the White House, recognized Sherwin-Williams innovative
new paint formulation, utilizing soybean oil and recycled plastic
bottles (PET) in the substantial reduction of Volatile Organic
Compounds (VOC). In manufacturing the new paint formula,
Sherwin-Williams has used 320,000 pounds of soybean oil,
250,000 pounds of PET, and eliminated 1,000 barrels of oil. The
company’s continued evolution and expansion of the Sherwin-
Williams technology has the potential to eliminate millions of
pounds of VOC emissions while supporting the recycling of
multi-million pounds of PET each year.
Secretary Vilsack also highlighted Ohio’s state program,
BioOhio, which is similar to USDA’s BioPreferred program.
The BioPreferred program, launched in January 2011, is a
voluntary USDA product certification and labeling program
for qualifying biobased products. The label identifies
biobased products made from renewable resources and
promotes the increased sale and use of these products in
the commercial market and for consumers.
Biobased products are composed wholly or significantly of
biological ingredients—waste streams and renewable plant,
Minority Enterprise Advocate • March – April 2012
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