Over $79,000 for Montana sourced products in MT schools secured
Mission West Community Development Partners to receive American Rescue Plan funding to deliver Montana products to Montana Schools
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News from the office of Senator Tester
BIG SANDY — As part of his ongoing push to support Montana small businesses and agriculture producers, Senator Tester secured $79,300 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for Mission West Community Development Partners—previously known as the Lake County Community Development Corporation—in Ronan. This funding is part of more than $7.8 million in ARPA funding Tester secured for 30 Montana small businesses, including 17 meat processing projects, and resources for three new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) certified meat processing facilities.
Mission West Community Development Partners plans to use their funds to deliver Montana sourced, value-added products to Montana schools. They provide leadership, community, and economic development assistance to Lake, Mineral, and Sanders counties and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes to help address growth issues in Montana.
“As a former public school teacher, I understand how critical it is that Montana kids get the nutrition they need to focus on their studies,” said Tester. “I’m proud to have secured this American Rescue Plan funding for Mission West Community Development Partners, and I will always fight to make sure Montana students are getting the resources they need to succeed in our public schools.”
Tester helped negotiate ARPA, which provided this funding, and he was the only Montana statewide official who supported the legislation.
In 2020, Tester held hundreds of meetings with Montana’s workers, small business owners, frontline health care workers, educators, Tribes, and local officials to solicit input about what Montanans need to make it through the pandemic. Tester used that input to help craft the American Rescue Plan, which provided $20 billion in vaccine funding, $382 million for Montana K-12 schools, and billions for small businesses, rural hospitals and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
