President Joe Biden's announcement last month that he would appoint five U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) staffers to regional positions provides more talent and experience to the administration, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a news release.
Biden's appointments of the three USDA Farm Service Agency state executive directors and two Rural Development state directors were announced in a White House news release June 23.
Montana Newly appointed USDA Farm Service Agency executive director Maureen "Morb" Wicks.
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"Here at USDA we continue to add experienced and talented individuals to our state offices," Vilsack said in a separate USDA news release issued the same day. "I have full confidence that each of these individuals will add knowledge and leadership to the dedicated team at the department."
The regional appointees "will be critical" to the Biden administration's work "to rebuild communities most impacted by the pandemic, the economic recovery and climate change," the White House news release said.
"They bring deep expertise in their issue areas as well as critical relationships with federal, state, tribal, and local leaders," the release said. "And, consistent with the president's commitment to building an administration that looks like America, these regional appointees represent the diversity of America and the communities they serve."
USDA Farm Service Agency state executive directors observe agency operations and policy implementation and work with their appointed state committees to administer USDA programs and operations. Rural Development state directors in states and territories carry out the mission of the department in rural America.
The three appointed USDA Farm Service Agency state executive directors are:
Ronald C. Guidry Jr., appointed Farm Service Agency state executive director for Louisiana. A New Orleans native from the Algiers neighborhood on the Mississippi River west bank. Since 2018, served USDA Farm Service Agency County Committee adviser in multiple southeastern Louisiana parishes.
Mark Gibbons, appointed Farm Service Agency state executive director for Utah. A third generation dairy farmer from Lewiston, Utah, Gibbons' family operates a 1,200-acre dairy farm and he served as the Utah State Farm Service Agency executive director, president of the Utah Farmers Union and a headed up number of other agricultural groups in the state.
Maureen "Morb" Wicks, appointed Farm Service Agency State executive director for Montana. With more than 30 years working for and representing Montana farmers as an elected county official, Wicks was a part of Women Involved in Farm Economics for about 10 years, and was the first woman elected to Liberty County Farm Services Administration.
The appointed USDA Rural Development state directors are:
Christy Davis, appointed Rural Development state director in Kansas. A fifth-generation Kansan who for more than two decades facilitated statewide projects and programs, served as legislative chair for the Kansas Downtown Development Association, on the board of the Chase County Chamber of Commerce and as executive director of Symphony in Flint Hills.
Lillian Salerno, appointed Rural Development state director in Texas. She is returning in this position after about two decades leading teams in government and industry. She spent six years during the Obama administration as rural business administrator and deputy undersecretary for USDA Rural Development, where she was the on the White House Rural Council.
