HBCUs Win USDA Funds
By Charles Dervarics
Eleven historically Black colleges will divide a new $1.5 million allotment from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to promote employment and new business development in rural communities.
The funds are made through cooperative agreements with the 11 institutions, which are 1890 land-grant colleges and universities. Each college and university will get $150,000 through the program.
The list of winners includes Tuskegee University, which will get $150,000 for entrepreneur development in Alabama Black Belt counties and other northern Alabama communities. The University of Maryland-Eastern Shore will use its funds to promote e-commerce efforts in eastern Maryland. Other recipients include:
Southern University, which will focus on job creation and retention in four rural Louisiana communities;
University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, which will focus on economic development in 16 counties;
Fort Valley (Ga.) State University, which will provide technical and financial assistance for business start-ups in six counties; and Langston University in Oklahoma, which will focus on youth entrepreneurship and infrastructure improvements in seven counties.
Other recipients of the $150,000 grants are Delaware State University, Prairie View A&M University, Alcorn State University, Tennessee State University and South Carolina State University. For more information, visit the USDA Web site at
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