Our 2016 annual report is a 2017 wall calendar. This calendar illustrates month-by-month the accomplishments you helped us achieve in the last year. With your help, new immigrants have a stronger sense of home in their new communities, more businesses are open in our small towns, and rural people across the country are making their voices heard. Your donations and your actions helped lift the future of the Center and the people we serve.
Here are a few of our executive director's favorites:
You and I both know that small towns are rich in history and culture. Our storefront theater project in our hometown of Lyons, Neb., won recognition from Americans for the Arts, a national program that recognizes the most compelling public art. Together we’re proving that small towns everywhere are interesting places.
Your support helped us offer small business owners a hand up. In 2016, we placed $1.7 million in loan capital with 123 small town businesses. This included $470,350 lent to Latino entrepreneurs. This is money invested directly in our small towns.
Your voice helped lay the groundwork for a national campaign to reform crop insurance, bringing together farmers and partners from across the nation. We’ll look to you again in the new year to help drive this campaign forward.
This coming year is sure to bring a new set of challenges for rural America and the people who call it home. We’ll face these challenges head-on, and with you by our side, we're confident that we’ll turn challenges into opportunity again in 2017.
Thanks for all you do.
