The Michigan Department of Agriculture director points to the newly named Office of Rural Development as a way to improve vulnerable areas of the state brought to light by the pandemic.
Gary McDowell tells Brownfield the governor set aside $175,000 in her recent budget recommendations to address specific needs of rural communities.
“Processing across the board would be an economic driver for our small and rural communities, plus hopefully we wouldn’t get into a situation like we were in like last spring when people were going to grocery stores and seeing empty shelves,” he says.
