WOOSTER -- When President Barack Obama talked about things being "made in America" and an "economy built to last," he was talking about things vital to rural Ohio, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday.

Secretary Tom Vilsack, who visited Wooster and Wayne County in July 2010, spoke with The Daily Record during a telephone interview to tout President Obama's call for energy development during his State of the Union address.

It is important for Ohioans, especially those in rural areas, to understand and appreciate the president's message and the successes the country has seen, Vilsack said. Investing in projects to produce American energy has led to job creation, he added.

When Vilsack was here in 2010, he visited the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Ohio State University's Agricultural Technical Institute and quasar energy group, which has benefited from the USDA's Rural Energy for America Program.

Caroline Henry, vice president of marketing for quasar, said the company, which produces anaerobic digesters to convert waste streams into energy, received $500,000 in REAP funding, which includes loans and grants, for its Wooster facility.

"The USDA's support of bioenergy has been amazing," Henry said.

"Of all of the grant programs, the USDA is very much partnering with companies and farmers" to get the needed funding.

"With the USDA, you are not working with bureaucratic red tape; they are trying to help rural America. Secretary Vilsack has done a good job."

The USDA helped nearly 270 small and mid-size businesses in rural areas, which has helped put people to work, Vilsack said. USDA programs also have helped encourage business owners and farmers to embrace renewable energy.

The USDA financed 169 projects, and it continues to make investments through loans and grants in order to get farmers to look at alternative energy, like wind, solar and anaerobic digesters. There are several programs for hog or dairy producers to install these digesters on their farms.

When farmers can produce their own energy with biodigesters, it is an opportunity to reduce energy costs, improve their fertilizer and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Vilsack said.

However, in 2012, REAP funding was drastically scaled back, Vilsack said.