Press Release - President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Appoint Kenneth Johnson and Intent to Nominate Jeffrey Nadaner

Kenneth Johnson of Missouri, to be the Rural Utility Service Administrator, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Mr. Johnson serves as the general manager and CEO of Co-Mo Electric Cooperative and President for Co-Mo Connect in Tipton, MO. Co-Mo is the first to deploy a fiber-to-the-home network to all of their members without federal or state funding, providing gigabit internet, video and voice services to nearly 16,000 subscribers. Johnson is a director and past president for Central Electric Power Cooperative, a director for the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives and served on the executive and legislative committees. Johnson was general manager for Twin Valleys PPD in Nebraska after beginning his career with the Nebraska Public Power District. He earned an undergraduate degree from Kearney State College, and is a graduate of the NRECA Robert I. Kabat Management Internship Program. Ken grew up on a farm near Edgar, NE and has spent his life working and serving rural America. He and his wife cherish spending time with their children and grandchildren.

Jeffrey Nadaner of Maryland, to be an Assistant Secretary of the Department of Commerce (Export Enforcement). Mr. Nadaner currently serves as the director of the Brute Krulak Center for Innovation & Creativity at the USMC and holds the Marine Corps University Foundation's Donald Bren Fellowship of Creative Problem-Solving. He possesses two decades of experience, both in the public and private sectors, in security and technology involving complex enterprises. At the Lockheed Martin Co., he held the positions of Vice President of Corporate Engineering and Technology, and Director of Business Development and Strategy in Information Systems & Global Solutions. Within the Department of Defense, he was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Partnership Strategy and Stability Operations, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates awarded him the Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service. He has also served as a Member of the State Department Policy Planning Staff, as a senior speechwriter to Secretary of State Colin Powell, and as a Department of Justice trial attorney. He earned his Ph.D. from Yale University, JD from the University of Pennsylvania, and BA from Duke University.