USDA Rural Development invests $11.5 million in 13 Iowa projects, including in Osage

OSAGE, Iowa (KTTC) – Utility and cooperatives across the state of Iowa are receiving millions of dollars in financial assistance from the federal government.

The money comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development.

Grant money totaling about $11.5 million in loans will be allocated to 13 projects, including two in Osage.

Heartland Power Co-op and Osage Municipal Utilities will receive $1 million each to support A to Z Drying Incorporated, an Osage manufacturing plant.

The funding will help the company acquire a 234,000 square-foot production and warehouse facility to expand its business.

The other Iowa projects receiving financial assistance include:

• Iowa State University’s AgMRC Center
  • Receiving a $1.4 million grant through the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center Grants program to provide independent producers and processors with critical information needed to build successful value-added agricultural enterprises through the center’s website.
• Corn Belt Power Cooperative
  • Receiving a $952,000 loan to provide a pass-through loan to Kinetic Technologies LLC. This project will enable the manufacturing business to construct a new facility in Algona, in Kossuth County, Iowa.
• Central Iowa Power Cooperative
  • Receiving a $1 million loan to provide a pass-through loan to Continental Manufacturing Chemist Inc. in Huxley, in Story County, Iowa. This project will purchase equipment and software to help expand the company’s custom packaging business.
• Southern Iowa Electric Cooperative Inc.
  • Receiving a $1 million loan to provide a pass-through loan to TSM Holding LLC/M3 Fabrication LLC. This project will purchase new powder coating equipment and construct a 56,000 square foot building expansion to house the company’s powder coating processes in Bloomfield, Davis County, Iowa.
• North West Rural Electric Cooperative
  • Receiving a $1 million loan to provide a pass-through loan to Hemp Agra LLC. This project will purchase equipment for the industrial hemp processing facility in Rock Valley, Sioux County, Iowa. The equipment will process raw hemp into components used in the construction, textiles, composites, and pet care industries.

According to the USDA, six other Iowa companies will receive grant money through the Higher Blends Infrastructure and Incentive Program to help create infrastructure and expand the sale and usage of renewable fuels.

• Rainbo Oil Company
  • Receiving a $589,648 grant to retrofit eight E15 dispensers, install four E15 dispensers, eight B20 dispensers, two ethanol storage tanks, and one biodiesel storage tank across five fueling stations located in Delhi in Delaware County, Iowa, and four stations in Dubuque in Dubuque County, Iowa.
• Multi-County Oil Co.
  • Receiving a $411,108 grant to install two E15 dispensers, two E85 dispensers, two B20 dispensers, one ethanol storage tank, and one biodiesel storage tank at two fueling stations in North English and Keswick in Keokuk County, Iowa.
• C&D Car Wash LLC
  • Receiving a $411,000 grant to install three E15 dispensers, one B20 dispenser, one ethanol storage tank, and one biodiesel storage tank at one fueling station in Bellevue in Jackson County, Iowa.
• Butler Truck Oasis LLC
  • Receiving a $573,375 grant to install four E15 dispensers, four E85 dispensers, and five B20 dispensers at one fueling station in Shell Rock in Butler County, Iowa.
• Prime Stop Inc.
  • Receiving a $238,500 grant to install three E15 dispensers and one ethanol storage tank at one fueling station in Melbourne, Marshall County, Iowa.
• Molo Petroleum LLC
  • Receiving a $1.95 million grant to install 30 E15 dispensers, six B20 dispensers, four ethanol storage tanks, and four biodiesel storage tanks in Eldridge, Bettendorf, and Davenport in Scott County, Iowa; Hiawatha in Linn County, Iowa; Dubuque in Dubuque County, Iowa; and East Moline in Rock Island County, Illinois.

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