The Biden administration is out with a fresh batch of officials selected to lead state Rural Development and Farm Service Agency offices.
The latest round of new Agriculture Department staffers includes a former state ag official, several former state legislators, and an Army veteran. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack said the new selections “have the experience and talent to serve on the front lines of FSA and RD offices in their respective states. We are thrilled to have them at USDA.”
The new FSA state executive directors are:
Deborah Tannenbaum, Florida
Tannenbaum was most recently the deputy ag commissioner at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Before her time at FDACS, she was the executive director of the Florida Peanut Federation, the chief of staff at the Cannae Policy Group — a Washington-based government affairs firm — and a senior fellow for President Barack Obama’s second inauguration.
Dennis McKinney, Kansas
McKinney is a farmer and former state legislator who has also served as the Kansas state treasurer. A former county commissioner, he currently lives in Greensburg, where he is a member of the board of a hospital as well as the Kansas Historical Foundation.
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Robert Andrzejczack, New Jersey
Andrzejczak joined the Army in 2005 and was wounded during his second deployment in Iraq. After recovering in the U.S., Andrzejczak was active in local groups and was eventually elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in 2012. There, he chaired the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.
Jon Wyss, Washington
Wyss is an analyst and government affairs director for Gebbers Farms and was briefly a Washington state legislator. He has been active in the U.S. Apple Association, the Okanogan Long Term Recovery Group, and local and state Farm Bureau affiliates.
One official was also selected as a Rural Development state director:
Glenn Pauley, Wyoming
Pauley’s most recent employment was with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, where he worked to implement the state’s wildlife action plan. He has previously been the executive director of both the Southern Alberta Land Trust Society and the Wyoming Stock Growers Agricultural Land Trust.
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