WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today announced new federal resources from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that will help save 65 jobs at a Wood County business. More than $3.1 million has been made available from USDA Rural Development to Precision Aggregates III, LLC/Palmer Brothers Concrete, Inc., a concrete contractor located in Bowling Green.

“Small businesses—especially in rural communities—are the backbone of our economy, creating up to two-thirds of new jobs in our country. Access to capital is vital for these small businesses,” Brown said. “These new resources from the Agriculture Department will help save 65 jobs in Ohio and keep interest rates affordable for this Ohio company.”

According to USDA Rural Development, the three loans—$1,565,000; $1,300,000; and $325,000—will each be used to refinance debt in order to eliminate a balloon payment and fix the interest rate for the term of the loan. The company’s lender is Sutton Bank, in Tiffin, Ohio; 65 jobs total will be saved at company projects in Fremont, Portage, and Upper Sandusky. Brown, Chair of the Subcommittee on Jobs, Rural Economic Growth, and Energy Innovation, has held more than 200 roundtables throughout the state, and is the first Ohioan to serve on both the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and the Senate Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee.

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