RCAC offers technical assistance and short-term loans for rural infrastructure projects

Shelley Nordham of the Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) outlined RCAC's suite of support services and loan products for small and rural communities, emphasizing hands-on technical assistance for navigating application portals (FAST, USDA RD), rate studies, policy development and regional collaboration. She described loan products for bridging grant reimbursement timing (bridge loans/revolving lines of credit), short-term infrastructure loans with interest-only draw periods, and loans secured by real estate for well development.

RCAC noted eligibility: projects must be in rural communities (population under 50,000) and primarily serve low-income communities; eligible borrowers include nonprofits, government entities and federally recognized tribes. Nordham urged attendees to contact RCAC loan officers or technical-assistance staff and to visit the CFCC handbook for detailed loan-term information.

Why this matters: Small and rural communities often lack internal capacity to complete complex funding applications and to bridge reimbursement timing. RCAC's TA and bridging-finance options can enable projects to move forward while awaiting reimbursements or grants.

Practical details: RCAC can provide bridge loans to pay contractors while utilities await state reimbursements (which can take 60
120 days for state processing), offers interest-only draw periods for construction, and can amortize loans over multi-year terms depending on project type. RCAC staff were available in breakout rooms for follow-up.