In his leadership role, Camp is one of the most influential policymakers in Washington, DC, helping to set the nation’s economic, health care and social welfare policies. His committee has sole jurisdiction over tax policy and oversees tariff and trade laws, Medicare, Social Security, and welfare and unemployment programs.

Representative Camp contacted our office to make sure we and our clients were aware of the many Rural Development Loan and Grant programs that were available to folks throughout Michigan. These loan and grant programs are available to families, farms, businesses, non profits, and public bodies like municipal and county governments.

The Development Programs include:

1. A Housing Program with available funds to repair, improve, winterize, construct, or purchase homes.

2. A Business and Cooperative Development Program with funding for acquisition, start-up and expansion. There are also monies available to provide economic planning for rural communities, technical assistance for rural entrepreneurs and economics development officials, as well as land acquisitions and construction of new businesses and community development projects.  Funding for project costs for renewable energy and efficiency projects such as wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and other renewable energy sources is also available.

3. Community Programs (Utilities and Community Facilities) with loans and grants for waste and water disposal, waste and water pre-development, solid waste management and the construction, equipment purchase and operation of facilities for fire and rescue.

4. Telecommunication Programs to assist with funding of electric and telecommunication programs for non-profits, cooperative associations and public bodies, as well as development and deployment of distance learning, telemedicine and broadband systems.

At Smith & Johnson, we are uniquely positioned to assist governmental entities, non profits, businesses and individuals who are looking to take advantage of the loan and grant opportunities made available through the hard work by Representative Camp.

Here’s  video of USDA Under Secretary of rural Development Dallas Tonsager discussing some of the challenges and opportunities facing the rural communities on a go forward.

Feel free to contact Louis Smith at 231.946.0700 or lsmith@smith-johnson.com with any questions or concerns about these programs.

Actually, wrong, for a number of reasons. Basic no-fault insurance doesn’t pay to have your car repaired. Nor does it pay if your car is stolen. To cover those costs you will need collision and comprehensive insurance. But beyond those situations you should seriously think about getting uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM).

Here are some reasons why:

While no-fault insurance covers your medical costs and lost wages without regard to who is at fault, there are some situations in which personal injury claims against the at fault driver are allowed. Suits are permitted in accidents in which there have been a death or severe bodily injury or permanent disfigurement. Essentially, in these cases, the injured party will be allowed to sue to recover pain and suffering damages from the person at fault.

This is fine, as far as it goes, but what happens in the event that the at fault driver is either uninsured, or has insurance with very minimal coverage? The answer is that the injured party gets little or no recovery. UM/UIM insurance bridges any gap between what an injured party is entitled to and the limits of the at fault party’s insurance coverage.

Assume that you are severely injured in an auto accident. Assume further, that a jury finds you are entitled to $100,000 of compensation for pain and suffering. If the driver has only $20,000 in coverage [the minimum required here in Michigan], you will lose any amounts above that figure. If you had $100,000 or more worth of UM/UIM insurance, you would receive the entire sum awarded to you by the jury.

Essentially, underinsured and uninsured motorist coverages are the only coverages that cover you for bodily injury if you are injured, maimed or killed by another driver’s negligence. You may have purchased an expensive policy with $500,000 limits on bodily injury, but, that is the money that your company pays to someone that YOU hurt when YOU cause an accident. It doesn’t help you one bit when someone runs a stop sign and injures you.

The only way to be fully protected in case of an accident is to purchase and maintain underinsured and uninsured motorist coverage. Check with your agent right now to make sure that you have the coverage in place to protect you and your family.