Communities Unlimited

06/05/2026

Steven and Crystal Prichard built CS Perfect Mix Entertainment in Bauxite, AR from 15 events a year to nearly 80 — and were still turning away 10 calls a week. They needed capital to keep pace with demand.

CS Perfect Mix got an SBA loan from our Lending Team this spring. Now they're adding equipment, hiring staff, and ready to say yes to the calls they used to miss: https://communitiesu.org/blog/2026/04/24/encore-ready/

06/03/2026

Revitalization doesn't always start with a million-dollar project. Sometimes it starts with a mural, a freshly striped parking lot, or a community garden.

Our Community Sustainability Team calls these "quick wins" — small, visible projects that move communities from talking about change to seeing it. In Texarkana, Beaumont, and Ames, Texas, that's exactly what happened.

Read the full story and sign up for 10 days of quick win ideas:

Small, community-led projects are helping rural towns rebuild trust, strengthen relationships, and create momentum for long-term revitalization.

05/29/2026

Noxubee County, Mississippi has talent, place, and a community-led plan. What it needs now is partners who want to invest in what comes next.

Meet the people building it. Read the full story: https://ow.ly/6zYN50Z5ioq

05/28/2026

Rural and Native communities facing persistent poverty don't lack potential, they've faced decades of underinvestment. Our partners at Partners for Rural Transformation just released a policy framework aimed at changing that.

Partners for Rural Transformation (PRT) released its policy framework on Tuesday, including four priorities to unlock economic opportunity and address decades of underinvestment in rural and Native communities facing persistent poverty across the country.

The framework elevates public policies and private frameworks that encourage, incentivize, and increase investment into rural and Native communities facing persistent poverty while building local capacity.

Read the full press release and framework here: https://www.ruraltransformation.org/blog/prt-launches-policy-framework/

05/27/2026

Rural entrepreneurs in Selma, Alabama are getting something too many small businesses never had: the right tools before things go wrong.

Our Area Director for Entrepreneurship, Marnell Love, led a workshop in Selma this past week alongside the Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information, covering the two things that sink most small businesses: underfunding and not knowing your customer. Our Lending Team can bridge the resource gap for businesses that start lean.

Read more here:

From the West Alabama Newsroom– The Selma-Dallas County Chamber of Commerce hosted a workshop Thursday — to help people in the area start and grow their own small business. Communities Unlimited — was brought in to conduct a small business workshop in Selma. The Arkansas-based — non-profit ....

05/26/2026

Grateful to CoBank for spotlighting this work and for the investment that keeps it moving. Rural communities across our seven-state region are building stronger economies, and partnerships like this one make that possible.

CoBank launched its Rural Prosperity Grant program in 2025, committing $1.5 million to support nonprofit development hubs strengthening rural communities, including Communities Unlimited.

Read more about how CU connects rural Americans to solutions that sustain healthy communities in our 2025 Sustainability Report. https://ow.ly/i78b50YCUIO

05/22/2026

Do you know what's in your well water?

This week, we got an inside look at our Private Well program alongside our Community Infrastructure Team. Clean, safe water isn't a given for many rural households and knowing what's coming out of your tap matters.

Get your well tested 👇
communitiesu.org/environmental/private-well-and-septic/

Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP)

05/21/2026

During , don’t forget the infrastructure many rural families depend on every single day: private wells.

Unlike public water systems, private wells often go untested, meaning contamination risks can go unnoticed. Through our Private Well Program, we help families assess their wells and protect the water flowing into their homes.

If your family relies on a private well, don’t just hope your water is safe. Learn more and get started today: https://communitiesu.org/environmental/private-well-and-septic/

05/20/2026

Rural communities across the South have been waiting for connectivity long enough.

Today, Communities Unlimited launches the Rural Broadband Institute — a center dedicated to closing the connectivity gap through technical assistance, research, training, and policy advocacy. Built on three years of on-the-ground work and 80+ community broadband plans, the RBI gives that work a permanent home.

https://communitiesu.org/blog/2026/05/20/connected-futures/

05/19/2026

Twenty-six years ago, Morrilton, AR lost 2,000 jobs. Last year, a $1 billion expansion was announced. Momentum has returned in Morrilton. And this spring, the community decided to start with a pocket park.

That's not small thinking. That's Morrilton knowing exactly what it needs. Working alongside CU, the community secured $12,000 to bring a long-neglected downtown green space back to life — in four community-driven phases.

The first cleanup day is May 30. And as Mayor Allen Lipsmeyer put it: "That gives people the hope that this is really real."

Story: https://communitiesu.org/blog/2026/05/13/still-here/