Highlighting Economic Opportunities in Rural America

Highlighting Economic Opportunities in Rural America
November 5, 1999

 

TODAY, PRESIDENT CLINTON WILL VISIT RURAL ARKANSAS ON THE THIRD LEG OF HIS NEW MARKETS TRIP. President Clinton continues his New Markets tour today by visiting Hermitage, Arkansas, touring the Hermitage Tomato Cooperative Association to highlight the economic opportunities available in rural America.

President Clinton's New Markets Initiative, builds on the Clinton/Gore Administration's strong record of promoting economic development, which includes the creation of the Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Community Initiative in 1993. This second New Markets trip comes four months to the date after his first trip, and again highlights the untapped potential in America's underserved markets. This second trip puts a special emphasis on how corporations and communities can leverage that potential through long term, sustainable partnerships. Through the New Markets Initiative, President Clinton is helping to mobilize corporate America and encouraging the private sector to invest in our rural communities so that all communities can share in the prosperity of this economic expansion.

HERMITAGE FACES ECONOMIC CHALLENGES, LIKE MUCH OF RURAL AMERICA. Despite a growing economy throughout the 1990's, many of the farmers and ranchers that helped to create this new prosperity are not reaping its benefits. Many of the operators of smaller farms have not shared in the success that they helped make possible by helping to produce the world's most affordable and abundant food supply. However, as the President will demonstrate today, the public and private sector can work together to create new economic opportunities for family farmers across America. Bradley County, Arkansas, in which Hermitage is located, faces:

IN HERMITAGE, PRESIDENT CLINTON WILL BE JOINED BY CORPORATE EXECUTIVES AND OTHER LEADERS. Randy Clayton (President, Hermitage Tomato Cooperative Association); Rick Silva (Senior Vice President & General Counsel, Burger King); Dan Terry (District Zone Manager, Krogers); Leory Hendricks (District Zone Manager, Krogers), John Haag (International Paper); Joe Harrington (Georgia Pacific d/b/a The Timber Company), Ignazio Urrabazo, Jr. (Chair, National Bankers Association), Rev. Jesse Jackson, Hugh Price (President, Urban League), and Al From (Executive Director, Democratic Leadership Council).

THE PRESIDENT WILL HIGHLIGHT THE HERMITAGE TOMATO COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION. In 1996, a group of fifteen farmers with limited resources and land, some of whom were on the verge of bankruptcy, formed the Hermitage Tomato Cooperative Association. Also in 1996, Burger King signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Rural Business-Cooperative Service of the USDA through which Burger King committed to buying locally produced commodities, including tomatoes from the Hermitage Tomato Cooperative Association. Today the Cooperative has nearly $4 million in annual sales and a waiting list for new members.

TODAY, AS PART OF PRESIDENT CLINTON'S NEW MARKETS INITIATIVE, THE FOLLOWING ANNOUNCEMENTS WERE MADE:

THESE ANNOUNCEMENTS BUILD ON PAST ASSISTANCE TO THE HERMITAGE TOMATO COOPERATIVE. The U.S Department of Agriculture provided technical assistance in the formation of the Hermitage Tomato Cooperative Association and guaranteed the loans that have enabled it to succeed.

COOPERATIVES REPRESENT A PATH FOR SMALL FARMERS TO REACH LARGER MARKETS AND BETTER ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS IN HERMITAGE

Fact Sheets / Remarks / Photo Gallery / Home





President and First Lady | Vice President and Mrs. Gore
Record of Progress | The Briefing Room
Gateway to Government | Contacting the White House | White House for Kids
White House History | White House Tours | Help
Privacy Statement

Help

Site Map

Graphic Version

T H E   W H I T E   H O U S E