Rural Opportunity, Advancement and Resilience

Partners for Rural Washington – Washington State’s federally designated State Rural Development Council – is laser focused on Rural Opportunity, Advancement and Resilience. That’s why it has selected nine Washington communities to participate in a pilot program aimed at helping each of them ROAR into a better future.

The program provides the ROAR communities with the expertise and capacity to find and apply for funding for its most critical infrastructure projects and to help coordinate management of those projects. Funded completely with grants and partnerships, PRWA provides its services at no cost to the communities.

Washington state
countryside

Starbuck

Replacing both the water and sewer systems and recoating the inside of the water tower

sewage pipe

White Salmon and Bingen

Replacing the water and sewer lines and addressing transportation/street issues

Everson, Nooksack and Sumas

Everson, Nooksack and Sumas

Improving community resilience to flooding and building infrastructure to manage future growth

Developing a new wastewater system

Wiley City and the Ahtanum Irrigation Distraction

Developing a new wastewater system

Darrington

Darrington

Working on a number of initiatives related to a new Wood Innovation Center and infrastructure to support economic development and housing

cracked concrete

Palouse

Completing a comprehensive replacement of the wastewater treatment system, adding a water tower and addressing structural deficiencies in the main bridge in town

“Small towns everywhere consistently do a lot with very little. Our capacity is stretched thin, and often, we don’t know what we don’t know. Having been selected as a ROAR community is an honor and an opportunity for our community to not only learn what is possible but to have the capacity to implement positive impacts concerning housing, childcare and job creation.”
~ Darrington Mayor Dan Rankin
“We are so excited to be selected as a ROAR community, and see the opportunity as allowing us to move critical projects forward that otherwise would not make progress due to the capacity of our internal staff. This kind of program helps level the field for rural communities to be able to access the additional support and professional expertise that often is a given within larger municipalities.“
~ White Salmon Mayor Marla Keebler

For more information, contact:

PRWA Executive Director
Jody Opheim
(509) 432-6504
jopheim@partnersruralwa.org