New State Director of Rural Development visits Mt. Pleasant

Theresa Greenfield, United States Department of Agriculture State Director of Rural Development was in Mt. Pleasant on Tuesday, Dec. 14.

This is the first month of Greenfield’s appointment as state director of rural development, and she was in Mt. Pleasant to meet with her field staff and others in the area.

“I am real excited to represent rural development,” said Greenfield. “I grew up rural, and I am really passionate about rural America, in particular, rural Iowa.

“I have a commitment to getting out and meeting all of our field staff, they are the boots on the ground, and one of our offices is here in Mt. Pleasant. We also went to Iowa Wesleyan University, because they are one of our customers.”

Over the last year, Rural Development has invested $700 million across the state in the form of loans and grants.

“What we do, is loans and grants to communities and community partners to uplift and support rural development,” said Greenfield.

There are three key programs that are provided by rural development.

“The first is rural housing, single and multi-family homes,” explained Greenfield. “Second is community programs where we are investing in wastewater treatment facilities, hospitals and such community projects.

“The third is business and industry: the Biofuel Producers Program is one such program where we will work with the producers and help offset losses due to the pandemic.”

She said that community support is one of the top priorities for Rural Development.

“Our goal is to support communities,” said Greenfield. “One of the things that everyone in Iowa is facing is the need for fiber optic broadband internet access. It is an economic driver for communities.

“And another goal is investing in our students, making sure that students here have a successful path to continue their education and hopefully stay here in Iowa.”

When asked about the employment issues that are prevalent throughout the country and the state of Iowa, Greenfield said, “We are there to make sure that we are supporting the workforce. We want to make sure that the business community has a trained workforce that will stay here in Iowa, in their home towns.

“We are here to uplift rural Iowa in any form that we possibly can.”