Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has announced additional funding to modernize and improve the efficiency of rural electric generation and transmission systems in eight states. Several of the loans announced Friday contain support for smart grid projects. In making the announcement – Vilsack said a strong American economy is contingent upon a strong rural economy. He said infrastructure investments like the 107.5-million dollars in loan guarantees provided by USDA Rural Development’s Rural Utilities Service will promote job growth.

More information on Rural Development projects throughout the country is available on the agency’s new interactive web mat. Visit www dot rurdev dot usda dot gov slash RDSuccessStories dot html (www.rurdev.usda.gov/RDSuccessStories.html). The map features program funding and success stories for fiscal years 2009 to 2011.