The Rural Development Finance Corporation (RDFC) is a nonprofit development organization that exists to help rural places thrive. Through low-interest revolving loan programs, RDFC supports emerging and expanding businesses, cooperative ventures and community development projects that bring economic benefit to towns of 10,000 or fewer residents or to rural people through regional or statewide cooperatives. Stemming from the cooperative principle of “concern for community,” this nonprofit organization is directed by rural electric and broadband cooperatives operating in North Dakota, the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives (NDAREC) and the Broadband Association of North Dakota (BAND).  

RDFC’s general revolving loan fund has received the majority of its injections from income generated by Dakotas America, LLC, a certified development entity. Dakotas America places federal new market tax credits, which help attract private sector investments to projects in rural and low-income areas. Fees that Dakotas Americas receives for the placement of tax credits are in turn disbursed to RDFC and Dakota Resources, a South Dakota nonprofit, for more good work. RDFC’s general revolving loan fund is also replenished with loan repayments plus interest and fee income.

RDFC also administers a separate North Dakota Food Impact Fund, made possible with a $10 million allocation through the USDA Meat & Poultry Intermediary Lending Program (MPILP). Initial loans are for meat processing projects in North Dakota. Once funds are loaned out and repaid, revolved dollars can be loaned to businesses or organizations engaged in the middle of the overall food supply chain, including distribution, transportation, manufacturing, processing, storage, aggregation and wholesale.