Rep. Panetta Secures $50,000 in Rural Development Funding for El Pájaro Community Development Corporation for Small Businesses and Farmers

Watsonville, CA – Today, Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-Carmel Valley) announced that he secured $50,000 in federal U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development (RD) funding for El Pájaro Community Development Corporation (CDC). This funding will be used to support El Pájaro CDC's "Expanding Opportunities for Food and Farming Entrepreneurs Program," which will provide technical assistance to small food and farming businesses in rural Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito counties. The funding will create and preserve jobs and help bring economic sustainability to rural areas in these counties.

"Small businesses are the backbone of our rural and agricultural communities and need our continued support following the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic," said Rep. Panetta. "This funding will help our smaller food and farming entrepreneurs, including immigrant entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of color, expand their businesses through training, kitchen resources, and financial support. I look forward to continuing to highlight the value of USDA Rural Development programs to our community and supporting additional funding for our rural economy, and to support the critical work of El Pájaro CDC in helping small businesses thrive."

"We are grateful for Congressman Panetta's continual commitment to rural entrepreneurs and his support in securing this USDA Rural Businesses Development Grant. This grant supports the "Expanding Opportunities for Food and Farming Entrepreneurs Program." Thanks to this our team will support rural BIPOC food and farming entrepreneurs in developing innovative products and services. Our program offers bilingual and culturally relevant training, coaching, technical assistance, food processing space, and 0% interest loans. We are excited for the opportunity to work collaboratively to build local food systems for Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties!" - Carmen Herrera-Mansir, Executive Director, El Pájaro Community Development Corporation.

El Pájaro CDC is a nonprofit organization serving Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Benito Counties that works to promote equal access to economic opportunity and support entrepreneurship. El Pájaro helps entrepreneurs start, maintain, and expand small businesses by offering technical assistance and helping them acquire loans, develop business plans, craft marketing, and promotion campaigns, and manages employees.

USDA's Rural Development programs offer loans, grants, and loan guarantees to help create jobs and support economic development and essential services. The programs promote economic development by supporting loans to businesses and offer technical assistance and information to help agricultural producers and cooperatives get started and improve the effectiveness of their operations.

In August, Congressman Panetta hosted a roundtable with USDA Undersecretary for Rural Development Xochitl Torres Small to highlight the importance of Rural Development programs for small businesses and agricultural producers on the central coast of California. Congressman Panetta secured $4.2 billion for Rural Development programs in the Fiscal Year 2023 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies appropriations bill, which passed the House of Representatives in July.

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