Schumer, Clinton secure funds
for Rural Opportunities Inc.

U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton have secured $250,000 for Rural Opportunities Inc. for its Upstate New York Community and Business Development Initiative. The funding was included in the Fiscal Year 2004 Omnibus Appropriations Bill conference report released by Congress. The report is expected to receive a final vote by the Senate by the end of January.

"There are no two ways about it. We have a pump more money into our rural communities to give the economy the shot in the arm it needs," Senator Schumer aid. "That means more money for technology, and a focus on agriculture, tourism, manufacturing and retail."

"It has been my pleasure to work with Rural Opportunities Inc. on several projects and I know how effective they are in providing economic development support to rural and regional areas," Senator Clinton said. "This funding is an important investment in Upstate New York's rural economies and the communities that surround them and a great boost for Rural Opportunities Inc. as they develop and foster the business and agricultural success stories of tomorrow."

Begun in 1969, Rural Opportunities Inc. (ROI) is a private, not-for-profit regional community development and human service organization providing services to farm workers, low-income families and economically depressed communities throughout New York.

ROI's Upstate New York Community and Business Development Initiative aims to use the New Market Tax Credit program as the primary vehicle to attract private investment capital to grow and expand business opportunities within communities and neighborhoods throughout Upstate New York region. The initiative hopes to involve an effort to build capacity among community development organizations in several upstate counties for greater use of the New Markets Tax Credit in these communities. The initiative will include a series of community investor forums with local and state private investors and local community and business leaders. Through this initiative, ROI hopes to target the following business sectors: value-added agriculture, technology (including bio-tech), tourism, manufacturing and retail.