Theresa Greenfield
President Joe Biden is appointing six individuals to serve in key regional roles within USDA. The announcements include two state Rural Development directors and four state leaders of Farm Service Agency offices.
Theresa Greenfield has been selected to serve as state director of rural development for Iowa. Greenfield ran against Republican Sen. Joni Ernst for Iowa’s senate seat in last year’s election.
Armando Valdez has been tapped as state director of rural development for Colorado. Valdez currently serves as a member on the Colorado State University System’s Board of Governors. During the Obama-Biden Administration, Valdez was appointed to the Farm Service Agency executive committee for Colorado.
Matt Russell will serve as Iowa’s state executive director of the Farm Service Agency. Russell is a fifth-generation Iowa farmer and grew up on a 1,000-acre commodity and livestock farm. He now farms with his husband Patrick Standley near Lacona and features retail agriculture and environmental stewardship on his operation. Russell has been executive director of Iowa Interfaith Power & Light, a group that advocates on agriculture and climate concerns.
Kent Peppler has been chosen to be Colorado’s state executive director for the Farm Service Agency. Peppler is a fourth-generation farmer from Mead, Colorado. He served as a member of the Colorado State Farm Service Agency State Committee during the Clinton-Gore Administration from 1995-2000 and also served briefly as the assistant state executive director and acting state executive director for the agency.
Clifton Warren has been selected to serve as Alabama’s state executive director of the Farm Service Agency. Warren has served FSA for 25 years, beginning his career in 1999 as a temporary program technician in the Greene/Sumter FSA office. He later served as the county operations reviewer where he was responsible for the reviews of over 46 USDA service centers in Alabama.
Robin Talley has been tapped to be the state executive director for FSA in Delaware. She has been a part of the FSA since 1984 and most recently served as district director.
Biden also has announced his intent to nominate Jerome Powell to a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve and Lael Brainard to serve as vice chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
Biden will appoint three new regional administrators to lead EPA’s work in their respective regional offices. Lisa Garcia will become EPA’s regional administrator for Region 2, serving New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and eight Indian nations. Daniel Blackman will become regional administrator for Region 4, serving the area of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee along with six Tribes. KC Becker will become regional administrator for Region 8 serving the areas of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming and 28 Tribal tribes.
Anne Alonzo has joined Pollination, a specialized climate change investment and advisory firm, as a senior adviser. Most recently, she served as senior vice president of external affairs and chief sustainability officer at Corteva Agriscience. She also served as the president and CEO of the American Egg Board, vice president of global public policy at Kraft Foods, chair of the World Cocoa Foundation and was a vice president of Amoco.
Anne Alonzo
Jacqueline Cohen now works for Waxman Strategies as vice president of environmental policy practice. She most recently served as the chief environmental counsel for the House Energy and Commerce Committee on the Democratic staff.
After eight years, Craig Anderson is leaving Capitol Hill and taking a new job with the Georgia Forestry Association as director of government affairs. Anderson currently works for Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., as his legislative director covering the portfolios for agriculture and food, foreign trade, telecommunications, appropriations, immigration and transportation.
UPL has named Bryan Brochin as the commercial head of U.S. agriculture, leading the U.S. agriculture sales team. Brochin comes to UPL with 27 years of experience in the agricultural industry, most recently serving as the director of global bio-ag marketing and strategy at Novozymes.
Kirstie Foster has joined CHS as the senior vice president of marketing communications. Foster brings 25 years of experience in marketing communications. She previously worked for Blue Cross and Blue Shield as vice president of brand, communications, and social responsibility. Before that, she worked for General Mills as the director of corporate and brand communications.
Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation members have elected Dan Glessing as the group's new president. Glessing, a dairy, alfalfa, corn and soybean farmer, takes over for Kevin Paap, who served as MFBF president for the last 16 years. Voters also selected Carolyn Olson as the group's new vice president.
Chris Hoffman has been reelected as vice president of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. He has been involved with the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau for the last 27 years. He also chairs the state Agriculture Promotion Committee, which focuses on raising money for the Pennsylvania Friends of Agriculture Foundation.
Kirstie Foster
The National Biodiesel Board has elected a new governing board. Serving a two-year term are: Chad Stone, Renewable Energy Group; Chris Hill, Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council; Dave Walton, Iowa Soybean Association; Harry Simpson, Crimson Renewable Energy; Kent Engelbrecht, ADM; Mike Devine, World Energy; and Ryan Pederson, North Dakota Soybean Council.
Farm Journal has promoted Cliff Becker to executive vice president of the company’s livestock division. Becker joined Farm Journal in 2012 and most recently served as senior vice president.
The Washington Forest Protection Association's executive committee has selected Jason Spadaro to serve as its executive director. Spadaro has served as interim executive director since July after the death of Mark Doumit. Spadaro has more than 30 years of forestry experience. He has also served as WFPA’s immediate past president and a trustee for more than 11 years.
Dryland Genetics has appointed John Manuel as the new chief commercial officer. Manuel brings more than 16 years of experience to the position, most recently serving as the senior director of strategy and business development for Miller Milling.
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