Kubota Awards ‘Hometown Proud’ Grant to Wayne County Ag Center in Tennessee
Kubota Tractor Corporation has announced Wayne County Ag Center, in Collinwood, Tennessee, as the winner of the Kubota “Hometown Proud” community revitalization grant program. Wayne County will receive a $100,000 grant and loaned equipment from Kubota to help develop the grounds for the county’s first and only dedicated Agricultural Center (Ag Center).
Kubota had identified the top five finalists for the “Hometown Proud” grant in May of this year. It then called on the public to vote to help determine the winner of the $100,000 grant and use of Kubota equipment to refresh or revitalize a community project.
“Kubota is built upon the idea that together we can do more, and through the support of our communities, our customers and our dealers anything is truly possible,” says Todd Stucke, Kubota senior vice president, marketing, Product Support & Strategic Projects. “We called upon the public to vote to help us decide which of these incredibly deserving communities would receive the much-needed funding and hard-working Kubota equipment and we are pleased to award Wayne County with the grand prize. We hope our excavators and tractors will be just the tools needed to bring Wayne County’s vision to life.”
Wayne County is beginning construction of the Ag Center within an existing industrial park that has been used for hay production for more than 30 years. The facility will house the local UT Extension and Soil and Conservation offices, a 125-person training/meeting room, commercial kitchen and a covered pavilion to provide outdoor classroom and event space. The grounds around this facility will be used for ag-related shows, demonstrations and eventually, community gardens.
Local Kubota dealer Brown Equipment Company, in Loretto, Tennessee, will provide the needed equipment and serve as a resource to the Wayne County Ag Center team as they bring their project to life, Kubota reports.
“We were so grateful to have been chosen as a finalist, to actually win was far beyond our expectations,” says Jim Mangubat, county executive for Wayne County. “All five communities have such great projects, and I sincerely wish them the best. Thank you, Kubota, for offering this opportunity and supporting small rural communities like ours. I’m thankful to all our family members, friends, Facebook friends and friends of friends all across America that voted, too!”
In addition, Heather Breneman from Spring Grove, Pennsylvania, was selected as the winner of the Hometown Proud Sweepstakes and will receive a Kubota BX Series sub-compact tractor from her local dealer, Messick’s Farm Equipment in Abbottstown, Pennsylvania. Every person casting a vote for a finalist was automatically entered into a sweepstakes for a chance to win a Kubota Z200 Series zero-turn mower or a BX Series sub-compact tractor.
KUBOTA HOMETOWN PROUD GRANT PROGRAM
www.kubotahometownproud.com
