Many projects funded with federal stimulus money are improving the lives of Northern Utah residents, says U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan .
Merrigan was in Utah last week to see how initiatives financed through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are faring.
President Obama signed the Recovery Act into law in February 2009. It is designed to jumpstart the nation's economy.
Merrigan toured the construction site of a community health center in Logan that will be an integral part of the health care network in Cache Valley.
When it opens this summer, the Cache Valley Community Health Center will offer primary and urgent medical care, behavioral health services, dental care and a pharmacy. The financing was made available through a $2.1 million loan through the department's Rural Development Community Facility program.
The clinic will benefit the local economy by providing both construction jobs and improved health care, which complies with the goals of the Recovery Act, Merrigan said.
"(Recovery Act funds) are making a real difference in people's lives," she said.
Merrigan also visited the Utah Food Bank in Salt Lake City, which receives about 20 percent of its total inventory of food from USDA each year. However, an additional Recovery Act grant provided by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service was used to double the amount of food provided to the facility, and address a 35 percent increase in demand.
About $10.5 million in Recovery Act funds have been provided to help rural Utah communities with projects to improve community facilities, emergency services and infrastructure such as water and wastewater treatment facilities.
Nearly 1,500 Utah families purchased homes in the past year as part of $245 million in Recovery Act funds administered by USDA Rural Development.
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