NEWS RELEASE USDA RURAL DEVELOPMENT PUERTO RICO

Media Contact: Miguel Ramírez
Phone: 787-859-2880 ext. 118
E-Mail: miguel.ramirez@pr.usda.gov

USDA RURAL DEVELOPMENT PUERTO RICO HELD ITS ANNUAL POLICY MEETING IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF RINCON

     San Juan, Puerto Rico, August 31, 2005--José Otero-García, Puerto Rico State Director, indicated that Rural Development Puerto Rico held its Annual Policy meeting during August 17 to 19, 2005.

     Our employees learned a lot, indicated Otero-García. The first day of the Policy Meeting the speakers were Assistant U.S. Attorney Agnes Cordero, who explained the new bankruptcy law, Lydia Aponte, from the Program Compliance Branch-Civil Rights and Attorney Antonio Escudero, from one of the most prestigious Law Firms in Puerto Rico, who explained the inheritance law.

     On the second day of the meeting Ramón M. Meléndez, Community Program Director, and his Staff made a wonderful presentation of his program. It was a very interesting topic and with his thirty-six years of experience in the Agency and his anecdotes we all learned more about the Community Programs.

     María de Jesús, Business and Cooperative Programs Director and her Staff, made a program presentation. She has twenty years of experience in Rural Development but only has been two months in her new position. She explained the Business Programs and all their goals; our employees were very impressed.

     In the afternoon Dr. Edmundo Jiménez gave us motivational presentations. He explained how to deal with our daily stress in order to serve better our customers. He got a huge applause from our employees showing their approval of his conference.

     On the last Day of the Policy Meeting we had an "Appraisal Presentation" by Architect Enrique Ferrer. He explained our employees how an appraisal is done, and what to look for in order to see if the appraisal was done correctly. This way we protect our customer's interest.

     Last but not least we got a motivational presentation by Ron and Pat Douglas who showed us how working together as a team we provide the best available service to our customers.

     "This Policy Meeting taught us the latest information on our Agency's Programs and united all our employees to build a team work to provide the best service to our customers" indicated Otero-García.

     USDA Rural Development's mission is to deliver programs in a way that will support increasing economic opportunity and improve the quality of life of rural residents. As a venture capital entity, Rural Development has invested over $54 billion since the beginning of the Bush Administration to provide equity and technical assistance to finance and foster growth in homeownership, business development, and critical community and technology infrastructure in rural America. As a result, over one million jobs have been created or saved through these investments.

     Additional information on USDA Rural Development Programs can be obtained by visiting USDA's web site at http://www.rurdev.usda.gov or by calling Miguel A. Ramírez at (787) 859-3104 ext. 118. USDA Rural Development is committed to the future of rural communities.

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USDA Rural Development is an Equal Opportunity Lender, Provider, and Employer. Complaints of
discrimination should be sent to: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410

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