president obama

Oscar Wilde once said, “The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself.”

It was within that frame of mind that the Obama Administration brought its ‘Jobs Roundtable’ series to Somerton, Arizona.  The goal of the roundtable was to reach out to local leaders for their thoughts and ideas on how to create jobs, move the economy forward, and create rural wealth.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development State Director for Michigan James J. Turner and Farm Service Agency Director Christine White held a roundtable on job creation and economic growth on Thursday, December 17 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Lansing Community College’s West Campus.

Those of us fortunate enough to have quality broadband service in our homes and workplaces know that it opens educational, business and entertainment opportunities that can only be imagined by those still living in a “dial up” world.  President Obama believes that all Americans should have access to Broadband, and today, through funding provided by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, we made a substantial down payment on the drive to provide Broadband to communities that have little or no access to the technology.

This week, at my request, USDA Rural Development and Farm Service Agency staff kicked off a series of meetings intended to gather ideas about ways to spark job creation and economic growth in rural America. This request is a direct result of the Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth that President Obama hosted at the White House earlier this month.

Today in Copenhagen, agricultural research took center stage at the United Nations Climate Change Conference when Ministers from 17 countries and I launched a Global Research Alliance that will help us better understand how agriculture can help reduce greenhouse gases while also growing more food.  USDA will commit up to $90 Million over four years towards this scientific Alliance that we hope will broaden our existing research networks and build new ones.

Earlier this week I participated in an Obama Administration Clean Energy Economy Forum in Arlington, Virginia with U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Assistant Secretary of Energy for Energy Efficiency and Renewables Cathy Zoi, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, U.S. Representative Gerry Connolly, and former U.S. Senator John Warner.

Today we announced the Innovations for Healthy Kids Challenge, which supports the President's Open Government Initiative by holding a national contest that will promote healthier dietary habits among children.

USDA Rural Development Under Secretary Dallas Tonsager was among those attending the New England Housing Network Annual Conference last Friday in Needham, Mass., The Under Secretary joined a panel of Obama Administration officials who spoke about opportunities for working with the administration and Congress.

Earlier this year, the President launched the SAVE Award - a program that offers every federal employee to chance to submit their ideas for how government can save money and perform better.  In just a few weeks, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) received over 38,000 submissions, many of which will be implemented in the coming months.  Now for a twist, the “final four” SAVE Award ideas were selected as finalists and will be voted on beginning today.  Voting is open to federal employees as well as the general public. Watch President Obama's open call for votes here.

The Red Cloud Indian School is located about five miles north of Pine Ridge, South Dakota.  The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and Shannon County are often listed as being among the poorest areas in this Nation.  Within this Third World environment the school provides a safe learning environment for Native American students.  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) that President Obama signed into law in February will help provide a much-needed economic boost to this rural area.  Recently, I joined Area Director Tim Potts to present the School with federal funds totaling $941,000. The money will be used to provide teacher housing, a new heating and cooling system and a sewer lift station at the school. The money is a combination of Recovery Act funds and dollars from USDA Rural Development’s standard allocation to South Dakota.