Bio for Thomas C. Dorr
Under Secretary for Rural Development
U.S. Department of Agriculture

Rural Development consists of three program areas that provide up to $18 billion annual funding authority for loans, grants, and technical assistance to rural residents, communities, and businesses. Rural Development also holds a $97 billion portfolio of existing business, housing, and infrastructure loans to rural America and is the largest Federal government financier of commercial renewable energy ventures. Rural Development has nearly 6,300 employees located across the United States and in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Western Pacific Trust territories.

As Under Secretary for Rural Development he serves as the Chairman of the USDA Energy Council which is responsible for advancing the President's Energy Initiative. The USDA Energy Council strives to promote the production of domestically grown fuel. Dorr also serves as the Federal Co-Chair of the Biomass Research and Development Board. Dorr's leadership and initiative to create a national renewable energy conference resulted in bringing together nearly 1,500 private and public sector renewable energy interests in October of 2006 and included participation by President Bush, Cabinet members from the Departments of Agriculture and Energy, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency.

He has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the 7th District Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the Iowa Board of Regents, and as a member and officer of the Iowa and National Corn Growers Associations. As president of a family farming and agribusiness company for 30 years, Dorr has broad agricultural, financial and business experience.

Mr. Dorr, from Marcus, Iowa, graduated from Morningside College with a B.S. degree in business administration.

(October 2007)

Mr. Dorr's Activities in Rural America
Mr. Dorr's Speeches and Remarks
Printer-Friendly Bio (PDF)

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