Heidi in the News
Emily Allen
The U.S. Department of Agriculture approved a $2 million loan to expand a Leading Edge Equipment building in Devils Lake.
Leading Edge Equipment sells John Deere equipment for "large agriculture, small agriculture and turf residential customers," owner Jim Vasichek said, "turf residential" referring to recreational users. The Devils Lake business is under construction to better accommodate an uptick in business Vasichek said he's noticed on all three fronts. "We've just been picking up more customers," he said.
Construction started last summer, according to Vasichek, and he suspected it will be "completely finished" in two months.
The loan, one of several the USDA awards every year for rural economic development, comes from electric and telecommunication cooperatives, according to Lori Capouch, a director at the North Dakota Association of Rural Development Cooperatives. "So, not taxpayer money," Capouch said, adding the cooperatives voluntarily give money to the federal government for loans to improve rural communities.
Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said the loans "provide important support for new and expanding rural businesses," helping create "good paying jobs." Vasichek said with his recent increase in business, he's hired eight more employees in Devils Lake.
Both Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., and U.S. House Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., pointed out the agricultural significance of supporting a farming equipment store. The Leading Edge Equipment expansion in Devils Lake will "continue to support the agriculture community," according to Heitkamp, and "better serve its customers involved in production agriculture in the Red River Valley" according to Cramer.
Outside the USDA loan, Vasichek also pointed to help from Bremer bank in Devils Lake and the city of Devils Lake, which helped him get a loan from the Bank of North Dakota.
