[ad_1]
NWTHS announces new Chief Nursing Officer
Northwest Texas Healthcare System (NWTHS), a 495-bed facility with more than 2,000 employees serving the top 26 counties of the Texas Panhandle and neighboring states is excited to welcome Annie Mendoza, RN, MSN, FACHE as the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO).
Mendoza is an accomplished healthcare executive with more than 25 years of experience, most recently serving as CNO and formerly Chief Quality Officer at Mountainview Regional Medical Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico. She received her Family Nurse Practitioner from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio along with her Master of Science in Nursing. She is certified as a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and is an American College of Healthcare Executives, Fellow (FACHE).
WTEC recognizes entrepreneurs, releases 2023 Economic Impact data
The WT Enterprise Center recognized the Amarillo business community’s achievements at its annual Entrepreneur Excellence Awards on Feb 6. The evening featured awards honoring local businesses, as well as the release of 2023 economic impact data from WTEC — which, as an Entrepreneur Support Organization, provides programs, resources and facilities to startup businesses and entrepreneurs.
“This data is crucial as it provides a comprehensive understanding of the Entrepreneurs Support Organization’s contributions to our regional economy,” said Brian Enevoldsen, WTEC managing director. “It encompasses various facets such as job creation, revenue generation and overall economic growth supported by the businesses engaged with the WTEC.”
The economic impact data shows that companies supported by WTEC in 2023 accounted for more than $245 million in total business revenue, almost $52 million in total payroll and $22 million in new equity and loans. WTEC-support companies employed 801 full-time and 223 part-time workers.
“This shows the effect WTEC programming has on our local and regional economy,”Enevoldsen said. “Through supporting entrepreneurship and established companies in the community, the WTEC looks to provide opportunity and hope for those looking for great jobs with great local companies or maybe even starting their own business.”
Aggregate WT Enterprise Center economic data represents the annual total numbers for all companies supported by the WTEC in 2023. This includes Amarillo EnterPrize Challenge recipients, Founder’s Club members, Incubator Clients and commercial kitchen producers.
The ceremony also included the recipients in the following categories:
The Golden Egg Award: Ogallala Commons was recognized for going above and beyond in pursuit of bettering the community. The nonprofit education and leadership organization makes outstanding contributions to an entrepreneurial ecosystem that encompasses eight states, Enevoldsen said. WTEC has partnered with Ogallala Commons in support of youth entrepreneurship through programming aimed at middle and high school students looking to begin their entrepreneurship journey in the region. The WT Enterprise Center also supports Ogallala Commons Farm to Institute program helping local food producers scale their business through serving larger institutes;
Coaching Graduate Award: 11 Marketing + Design was honored for its dedication in completing the 18-month coaching program as part of the Amarillo EnterPrize Challenge;
Client of the Year: Fat Mama Feeds and owner Brian Gwin received this accolade for exemplifying exceptional dedication and success as a WTEC client. In only two years, the company exceeded its own five-year projections of growth and now services the region with bagged deer corn and soybeans, Enevoldsen said;
Don Taylor Entrepreneur Excellence Award: Lloyd Brown, WTEC’s entrepreneur-inresidence, was recognized for demonstrating exceptional entrepreneurship and embodying the spirit of innovation, Enevoldsen said. Brown has made significant contributions as both a community leader and a businessman.
“The awards ceremony gives our community a chance to celebrate the ups and downs of theprevious year while focusing on setting goals for the year ahead.” Enevoldsen said. “It is anopportunity for us to acknowledge the contributions these entrepreneurs make in our community,and it is a true joy to know how big a difference they make.”
USDA to issue $306 million in final payments to producers impacted by 2020, 2021 natural disasters
WASHINGTON – The U. S Department of Agriculture (USDA) is issuing final Emergency Relief Program (ERP) payments totaling approximately $306 million to eligible commodity and specialty crop producers who incurred losses due to natural disasters in 2020 and 2021. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) will begin issuing these additional payments to eligible producers this week, according to a news release.
Recipients of the additional payment are limited to those producers who received ERP Phase One payments from FSA that were calculated based on crop insurance indemnities. Initially, ERP Phase One payments to producers who were indemnified through Federal crop insurance, were subject to a 75% payment factor. FSA has since determined that adequate funding exists to provide an additional 3.5% ERP Phase One payment to producers who had crop insurance increasing the overall payment factor to 78.5%. These additional ERP Phase One payments are subject to FSA payment limitation provisions as outlined in the ERP Phase One fact sheet.
Because ERP Phase One payments to producers of noninsured crops covered by FSA NAP policies were originally paid at 100%, there will be no additional payments issued to these producers for 2020 and 2021 losses.
Separately, through the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328) Congress allocated approximately $3.2 billion in funding to cover necessary expenses related to losses of revenue, quality or production losses of crops. Enrollment is ongoing for ERP 2022, which covers losses to crops, trees, bushes and vines due to qualifying, calendar year 2022 natural disaster events including wildfires, hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive heat, tornadoes, winter storms, freeze (including a polar vortex), smoke exposure, excessive moisture, qualifying drought and related conditions.
To learn more, visit usda.gov.
Farmers, ranchers now can make USDA farm loan payments online
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced this week that most farm loan borrowers will be able to make payments to their direct loans online through the Pay My Loan feature on farmers.gov in early February. Pay My Loan is part of a broader effort by USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) to streamline its processes, especially for producers who may have limited time during the planting or harvest seasons to visit a local FSA office; modernize and improve customer service; provide additional customer self-service tools; and expand credit access to assist more producers.
On average, local USDA Service Centers process more than 225,000 farm loan payments each year. Pay My Loan gives most borrowers an online repayment option and relieves them from needing to call, mail, or visit a Service Center to pay their loan installment. Farm loan payments can now be made at the borrower’s convenience, on their schedule and outside of FSA office hours.
The Pay My Loan feature can be accessed at farmers.gov/loans.
USDA reopens signup for Continuous Conservation Reserve Program
COLLEGE STATION – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is now accepting applications for the Continuous Conservation Reserve Program (Continuous CRP) signup. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) encourages agricultural producers and landowners in Texas who are interested in conservation opportunities for their land in exchange for yearly rental payments to consider the enrollment options available through Continuous CRP, which also includes the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) offered by FSA partners. Additionally, producers participating in CRP can now apply to reenroll, if their contracts will expire this year.
To submit an offer, producers should contact the FSA at their local USDA Service Center by July 31, 2024, in order to have an offer effective by Oct. 1, 2024. To ensure enrollment acreages do not exceed the statutory cap, FSA will accept offers from producers on a first-come, first-served basis and will return offers for approval in batches throughout the year. Additionally, producers with acres enrolled in Continuous CRP set to expire Sept. 30, 2024, can now offer acres for re-enrollment. A producer can both enroll new acres into Continuous CRP and re-enroll any acres expiring Sept. 30, 2024.
FSA water quality practices, such as riparian buffers, prairie strips, grassed waterways, and wetlands, will receive an additional 20% incentive. Buffer practices have a positive impact on water quality. Additionally, the Climate-Smart Practice Incentive launched in 2021 is also available in the Continuous signup.
There are several enrollment options within Continuous CRP, including:
CREP: Working with conservation partners, CREP leverages federal and non-federal funds to target specific state, regional, tribal, or nationally significant conservation concerns.
State Acres For Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE): The initiative restores vital habitat in order to meet high-priority state wildlife conservation goals.
Highly Erodible Lands Initiative (HELI): Producers and landowners can enroll in CRP to establish longterm cover on highly erodible cropland that has a weighted erodibility index (EI) greater than or equal to 20.
Farmable Wetlands Program: Producers and landowners can enroll land in CRP to restore previously farmed wetlands and wetland buffers, improving both vegetation and water flow.
Clean Lake Estuaries and Rivers (CLEAR) Initiative and CLEAR30: This initiative prioritizes and offers additional incentives for water quality practices on the land that, if enrolled, will help reduce sediment loadings, nutrient loadings and harmful algal blooms. Through CLEAR30, a component of this initiative, these additional incentives for adoption of water quality practices can be accessed in 30-year contracts.
[ad_2]
Source link
