Looking In: Rural development advances New Mexico

29 Dec 2016


Economic Development

On Dec. 16, my time as state director at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development ended. Little did I know when I took this job in 2009 that there were great challenges facing New Mexico’s rural communities and more down the road.

During the last eight years we worked through a recession, post-recession, stimulus program, sequestration, government shutdown, an economic stagnation in New Mexico’s economy and a rise in in our state’s poverty level and unemployment rate. USDA Rural Development helped stabilize rural communities as these events unfolded by investing more than $2 billion and thousands of man hours to help rural communities toward a sustainable future.

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