Ben Baker talks new gig as Missouri Rural Development Director

When you’re a Missouri US Representative, it’s hard to imagine a lot of other jobs that might make you even happier waking up with anticipation every morning. 

Thanks to President Donald Trump, now former Missouri US Representative Ben Baker has that opportunity after being appointed by the POTUS himself as the Missouri Rural Development Director.

“It’s just a huge honor to be able to serve the state and still be involved in public service, but also at the pleasure of the president,” Baker told Newstalk KZRG. “What an honor it was to get a formal letter from the White House saying welcome to the Trump-Vance administration. Never in a million years would have I ever guessed that something like this would happen. But it’s a great honor and I’m looking forward to the new role and responsibility. Of course, it’s bittersweet.

I loved my time in the legislature and serving the people of the 160th district. It’s been the greatest honor of my life, but this is a new chapter and I’m really excited about it.”

Of course, this opportunity may not have been possible without the recommendations of some fellow Missourians.
“Congressman Burleson, Congressman Onder, Senator Hawley and Senator Schmidt all advocated for me as well,” Baker said. “That’s just an amazing thing to know that those relationships that I’ve built and the people that know me and put their trust in me to advocate for me is just a huge deal. It’s never lost on me and I’m going to do what I always do and that’s work really hard to serve the people now the entire state of Missouri.”

The Missouri Rural Development Director, a position within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), oversees the implementation of Rural Development programs across the state. This role involves managing loans, grants, and other economic tools to support rural communities, focusing on infrastructure, housing, business development, and access to essentials like clean water and high-speed internet.

“So, this is the rural development side of the USDA,” Baker said. “So there’s a lot of grants. There are loans, like single-family housing loans and there are multi-family housing loans. There are infrastructure projects that they issue grants and help for things like water systems. They’re involved in a lot of things that have to do with rural areas, small towns that just don’t have the funds to be able to address some of the issues. … It’s a huge help to, you know, those parts of our state.

“So, I will be overseeing those programs. We have 25 offices around the state, satellite offices. Neosho actually has a USDA office and there are four regional areas and four regional offices. We have somewhere around 41, 42 employees around the state right now.”

When looking back on his time as a Missouri US Representative, Baker noted he was proud of several things he was able to accomplish.

“You know, I’ve been able to really chip away at important things like tax reform,” Baker said. “You know, we move the needle on that, I still think there is a long way to go. But what you find in the legislature is the big, big bites are difficult and almost impossible to get. So, you find ways to chip away at these issues. Education reform was an issue for me and still is. I’m passionate about that. I firmly believe that education reform is our only hope of bringing our education and the academics up. And competition I think will breed that. So, I was able to get some things done. Parents Bill of Rights, move the needle on education reform. And you know, there’s several other issues that I think really matter. Election reform is another one that I was able to get done.”