WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators John Boozman and Tom Cotton along with Congressman Rick Crawford (AR-1) today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded rural development grants to the communities of McCrory and Cotter for first responder vehicles and equipment. USDA has approved a loan for the city of Brinkley to make improvements to its existing wastewater treatment plant.

“These rural development funds will go a long way toward helping these three communities grow. The grants for McCrory and Cotter will help upgrade the communities’ police and firefighting vehicles and equipment to respond faster and more effectively to emergencies. The loan will help the city of Brinkley modernize critical infrastructure,” Boozman said.

“This is great news for three deserving Arkansas communities,” said Cotton. “They will now be able to make important updates to their infrastructure and emergency response capabilities and help make Arkansas safer and stronger.”

“The needs of rural Americans are too often not given the priority they deserve, so I’m very pleased to see that our communities are receiving the assistance they need. The loan and these development grants will help keep Cotter, McCrory, and Brinkley safe and running smoothly,” Crawford said.

 The details released from USDA are as follows:

 McCrory: $17,000 USDA Rural Development grant to purchase a fire department vehicle and equipment.

 Cotter: Two separate USDA Rural Development grants totaling $8,800 (grants for $6,800 & $2,000) to purchase a police vehicle and equipment.

 Brinkley: $1,317,000 USDA Rural Development loan to make improvements to the city’s existing wastewater treatment plant.