Winners of Farm Credit East’s Lipinski Rural Initiatives Award Announced

ENFIELD, CONN. — Farm Credit East is pleased to announce it has awarded two winners of the final Lipinski Rural Initiatives Award. The recipients were recognized for their innovative approaches for investing in rural businesses and economic development. Each recipient was awarded $40,000.

Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI), based in Brunswick, Maine, is a Community Development Financial Institution focused on building a more equitable economy for rural Maine communities by investing in local business and creating jobs. CEI’s services include business loans, one-on-one, no-cost business advising, and support for homeownership and financial wellness education. CEI also invests in childcare infrastructure and works to create new jobs while preserving existing jobs across the state of Maine. The $40,000 award will support CEI’s work to build stronger rural livelihoods and community stability.

The New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health (NYCAMH), based in Cooperstown, New York, facilitates the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of occupational diseases and work-related injuries and illnesses for New York agricultural, fishing and forestry workers. Through a variety of on-farm health and safety services, NYCAMH works with farmers to address and eliminate hazards. The $40,000 award will be used to expand NYCAMH’s programs to continue to reduce death and injury rates among agricultural, fishing and foresting workers across New York.

“Founded five years ago in honor of former Farm Credit East CEO Bill Lipinski, this award has recognized numerous efforts to enhance the quality of life in Northeast rural communities,” said board chair John Knopf. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients. We hope their award will help them further their efforts, which benefits the Farm Credit East customers who call those communities home.”

The Lipinski Rural Initiatives Award was created by Farm Credit East’s Board of Directors in 2020 to recognize former Farm Credit East CEO Bill Lipinski. Now in its fifth and final year, the award has recognized a dozen innovative and transformational efforts across the Northeast working to revitalize rural communities. To learn more about the award and past recipients, visit FarmCreditEast.com/rural.

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