Rural Utilities leader visits North Dakota

John Padalino, acting USDA Rural Utilities Service administrator, visited North Dakota and NDAREC last month to meet and communicate with rural and cooperative development leaders. (Photo by Kent Brick)

John Padalino, acting administrator of the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture visited North Dakota last month, meeting with several individuals and groups which RUS serves through its rural development and infrastructure financing and support services.

While in the state, Padalino participated in a roundtable meeting of local rural economy stakeholders, held at the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives (NDAREC), Mandan. Jasper Schneider, USDA Rural Development director for North Dakota, hosted the meeting and introduced Padalino.

In his remarks to this group, Padalino said his work as acting RUS administrator is emphasizing four areas: 1) opportunity and innovation in rural America; 2) local and regional food systems; 3) natural resource conservation; and 4) a bio-based economy.
Padalino was named to the RUS post in September 2012, following his role as acting administrator for USDA Rural Development’s Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS).
In an interview with North Dakota Living at the conclusion of the meeting at NDAREC, Padalino remarked that he looks to extend the long mutual working partnership his agency has maintained with electric cooperatives. “We have been partners with electric cooperatives for 78 years,” Padalino says. “We want to stay on a path to sustain these partnerships for the next 78 years, and beyond.”

Padalino said his time in North Dakota showed him “how cooperative this state is. North Dakota is the model of cooperation in in our country.”

RUS, the successor to the Rural Electrification Administration, has funded rural electric cooperatives nationwide since its creation May 11, 1935. Currently, RUS has over $60 billion in assets under management to finance electric, telecommunications and water and wastewater utilities serving rural areas nationwide.

“With the tremendous growth in North Dakota, the Rural Utilities Service is a key partner in building up our state’s infrastructure,” Schneider said. “We are thankful to have Administrator Padalino visit and hear his insights into what the future of rural America looks like.”