{"id":44169,"date":"2023-05-22T12:39:28","date_gmt":"2023-05-22T16:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelandmark.com\/?p=44169"},"modified":"2023-05-22T12:39:28","modified_gmt":"2023-05-22T16:39:28","slug":"gobi-named-director-of-rural-affairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/2023\/05\/22\/gobi-named-director-of-rural-affairs\/","title":{"rendered":"Gobi named Director of Rural Affairs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BOSTON \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Gov. Maura Healey and\u00a0Lt. Gov.\u00a0Kim Driscoll\u00a0have announced Massachusetts Sen. Anne Gobi will be leaving the Legislature to join their administration as the new Director of Rural Affairs\u00a0in\u00a0the Executive Office of Economic Development.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this new role created<\/a> by the Healey-Driscoll Administration, Gobi will serve as a dedicated advocate and ombudsman cultivating economic development within rural communities. She will ensure that the needs of rural and regional economies are incorporated into the economic development plan<\/a> being developed by the Executive Office of Economic Development and will be responsible for coordinating with secretariats and state agencies to ensure that state government is attuned to the unique needs of these towns.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are building an economy that benefits all communities, businesses,\u00a0and people in Massachusetts, particular those\u00a0that are\u00a0too\u00a0often overlooked\u00a0and underrepresented\u00a0like rural and small towns,\u201d said\u00a0Healey<\/strong>.\u00a0\u201cSenator Gobi\u2019s fierce advocacy of\u00a0rural\u00a0equity, agricultural\u00a0and small\u00a0businesses,\u00a0and\u00a0conservation initiatives\u00a0makes\u00a0her the ideal candidate to\u00a0help\u00a0our\u00a0rural towns across the state\u00a0succeed.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSenator Gobi\u00a0brings\u00a0to this new role\u00a0deep knowledge of the challenges\u00a0that\u00a0rural and small-town economies face and decades of experience serving the people of\u00a0our state,\u201d said\u00a0Driscoll.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cWe are excited\u00a0to welcome her to our administration and look forward to\u00a0working\u00a0with her to\u00a0better\u00a0reach rural communities and help them\u00a0grow.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gobi was first elected to the\u00a0Legislature in 2001 as\u00a0State\u00a0Representative and became\u00a0State\u00a0Senator in 2014 representing 22 communities in Worcester and Hampshire counties, several of which are rural. She currently serves as the\u00a0Senate\u00a0Chair of the\u00a0Agriculture\u00a0Committee,\u00a0Vice\u00a0Chair of\u00a0the\u00a0Higher\u00a0Education\u00a0Committee, and\u00a0Co-Chair of the\u00a0Commission on 21st\u00a0Century\u00a0Farming\u00a0within the\u00a0Legislature.\u00a0She also\u00a0co-chairs the Rural Caucus, Food Systems Caucus, Regional Transit Authority Caucus, Municipal\u00a0Light\u00a0Caucus and\u00a0Regional\u00a0Schools\u00a0Caucus, and serves on the\u00a0East-West\u00a0Rail\u00a0Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMassachusetts\u2019 rural\u00a0and small towns\u00a0have\u00a0such\u00a0an important role to play in our state\u2019s economy and I\u2019m excited to have\u00a0a true champion of\u00a0these communities join Team Massachusetts,\u201d said\u00a0Economic Development Secretary Yvonne Hao.\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cSen. Gobi has the knowledge, experience, and passion\u00a0required\u00a0to\u00a0connect with\u00a0the\u00a0needs of rural towns and\u00a0plug\u00a0these municipalities\u00a0into our state\u2019s many economic development resources.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An avid outdoorsman, Gobi co-founded the Sportsmen\u2019s Caucus, which convenes supporters of fishing, hunting and other outdoor activities. She also serves as a member of the Veterans and Federal Affairs Committee. Prior to being elected to the Legislature, she taught at Leicester High School, had her own law office, and worked with victims of domestic violence at Central Mass Legal Assistance. A lifelong Spencer resident, Gobi graduated from Worcester State University and the Massachusetts School of Law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur office supports all of Massachusetts\u2019 351 cities and towns, more than half of which are rural communities,\u201d said Undersecretary\u00a0Ashley Stolba<\/strong>. \u201cWe\u2019re excited that Sen. Gobi will join our office to provide these municipalities with dedicated attention to help their economies succeed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I am thrilled to take on this important role and grateful to the Healey-Driscoll Administration for elevating our rural communities,\u201d said Senator Gobi.<\/strong> \u201cWhile I will miss the Legislature, I look forward to continuing to work for the needs of small towns throughout the Commonwealth as their advocate in state government.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gobi will start in her new role June 5 as a member of the Executive Office of Economic Development\u2019s economic foundations team led by Undersecretary Ashley Stolba. She will be tasked with conducting a review of all state grant opportunities, including the Community One Stop for Growth<\/a>, to ensure that barriers for rural and small towns are mitigated and will host dedicated office hours for rural towns to receive technical assistance to identify and explore grant opportunities.  She will also serve as a member of the Rural Policy Commission<\/a>, which advocates for the vitality of rural communities as well as legislative and policy solutions that address rural needs. 
 
On March 1, Governor Healey filed Article 87 legislation to create a new Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities headed by a cabinet-level secretary and to rename the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development as the Executive Office of Economic Development. Economic Development Secretary Hao recently announced<\/a> a restructuring to better position her office to fulfill its mission of promoting business growth, opportunity, and economic vitality for Massachusetts\u2019 communities and residents. This realignment includes an intentional focus on supporting the needs of rural and small towns through the office\u2019s economic foundations team. The Article 87 reorganization plan will take effect June 1.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BOSTON \u2013\u00a0Gov. Maura Healey and\u00a0Lt. Gov.\u00a0Kim Driscoll\u00a0have announced Massachusetts Sen. Anne Gobi will be leaving the Legislature to join their administration as the new Director of Rural Affairs\u00a0in\u00a0the Executive Office of Economic Development.\u00a0\u00a0 In this new role created by the Healey-Driscoll Administration, Gobi will serve as a dedicated advocate and ombudsman cultivating economic development within rural communities. She will ensure that the needs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":96545,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[31,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44169\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}