At the Midwest Rural Assembly this morning, USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager got everyone's immediate attention by emphasizing that the agency has twice as much money as it had last year—and it needs to get that money out the door and into the countryside. But perhaps most impressive was his emphasis on government as a partner with rural communities and a clear belief that government can play an important role in improving peoples' lives.
Tonsager outlined his top priorities for USDA's Rural Development office as:
1) Improving collaboration between communities within the same region to better leverage resources.
2) Capitalizing on the economic benefits of local food systems.
3) Improving the effectiveness of community development programs already at USDA.
4) Expanding economic opportunity from bioenergy; including biofuel, biomass and cellulose.
5) Increasing broadband access to rural communities (See Julia's blog on this topic).
6) Identifying and working with strategic partners on the ground in rural communities.
7) Improving the flow of capital into rural communities to make important investments.
We sat down with Under Secretary Tonsager for a short interview to find out more:
