Posted: 08.17.2011
Wisconsin's FFA Commander and Chief had a chance to meet the REAL Commander and Chief Tuesday at the White House Rural Economic Forum at the Northeast Iowa Community College in Peosta.
Ethan Giebel, State FFA President; Abbie Baker, State FFA Vice President and Sara Raschein, State FFA Sentinel were among about 200 invited guests that shook hands with President Barack Obama on Tuesday as he kicked off the open discussion on issues facing rural areas. "We had to wait a couple hours for the president to arrive," Geibel told Pam Jahnke, "but then he addressed the audience with a very positive message about what he sees happening in agriculture.
The three officers, accompanied by Jeff Hicken, State FFA Advisor, also participated in two-hour long breakout sessions that focused on everything from health care to transportation. Giebel for example was a part of the "transportation" panel hosted by Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood. "I really felt like they (the administrator facilitators) were listening," Giebel said, "They took notes all through the discussion and said they'd relay our messages on to staff and the president."
The White House Rural Council will coordinate programs across government to encourage public-private partnerships to promote further economic prosperity and quality of life in rural communities nationwide. Chaired by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, the Council will be responsible for providing recommendations for investment in rural areas and will coordinate Federal engagement with a variety of rural stakeholders, including agricultural organizations, small businesses, and state, local, and tribal governments.
President Obama returned to address the group after they'd wrapped up their sessions. In his closing comments, Obama said, "All I want to emphasize is, is that when you look at farm economies, right now obviously prices are good, but given the volatility of the world market, for us to be able to figure out how we can also use energy and conservation as an enhancement to the core business of feeding people, then I think that we can make enormous progress. And Tom (Vilsack) has a lot of creative ideas. Our Department of Energy, we’ve made this one of our highest priorities. And so I’m very interested in figuring out how the federal government can be even more helpful than it already is in moving this agenda forward."
Giebel said he and the officers will try and convey their experiences to other FFA members as well as political leaders in Wisconsin.
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