Commissioner Hugoson Appoints Boerboom as Deputy, Kinney as Assistant Commissioner
News Date August 10, 2007
Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) Commissioner Gene Hugoson has announced the appointment of Jim Boerboom as deputy commissioner and the hiring of Robin Kinney as assistant commissioner. Boerboom's appointment is effective immediately, and Kinney will join the MDA by early September.
Boerboom currently serves as an assistant commissioner with the MDA, with responsibility for overseeing the department's Agricultural Development and Financial Assistance, Laboratory Services, Plant Protection, and Agricultural Statistics divisions. He also has directed the state's Rural Finance Authority, a lending group supervised by the MDA. He started his service as director of the Agricultural Finance Division in 1995, and was promoted to assistant commissioner in 1999.
As deputy commissioner, Boerboom now will be responsible for day-to-day operations of the department, and will have direct oversight of the Laboratory Services, Human Resources, Finance and Budget, and Information Services divisions.
Prior to joining the MDA, Boerboom was a state representative in the mid 1980s, serving a district that included Lyon and Lincoln counties. He also has 14 years of experience in banking and farming, and earned bachelor's and master's degrees in Agriculture Education from the University of Minnesota. He and his family currently live in Waseca.
Hugoson also announced the hiring of Robin Kinney to fill Boerboom's vacated assistant commissioner position. In her new position, Kinney will oversee the department's Agricultural Development and Financial Assistance, Agricultural Marketing Services, and Agricultural Statistics divisions.
Since 1995, Kinney has worked as the South Central Area Program director and training coordinator for the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation (MFBF). In that role, Kinney has built membership, maintained communication with allied organizations, and facilitate program evaluation on the local, state, and national level. She has developed local and state training programs, and has helped promote the organization statewide. Kinney previously served MFBF as director of communications from 1990 to 1994, and also worked as a farm broadcaster at the Linder Farm Network.