NASHVILLE – Monterey native Amy New was recently appointed the Tennessee Economic and Community Development’s first assistant commissioner for Rural Development. New, a department veteran working with business and community development programs, most recently served as director of the department’s primary community development program ThreeStar.
ECD Commissioner Randy Boyd said New would lead a new division within TNECD that reorganizes all community programs under her leadership. The move will allow the department to put a greater emphasis on assisting rural communities.
“While TNECD has done many good things for our rural communities, from the ThreeStar program to the Select Tennessee site development efforts, I believe we need to double down on our efforts,” Boyd said. “Many of our rural areas are still struggling, and we need to reorganize and align to serve them even better. That includes considering new programs, improving existing ones, and reallocating resources, both personnel and financial. However, the most important first step is to put in place a great leader, and I believe Amy New is that leader. She has the experience, the passion and the leadership ability to move our state forward.”
Since 2012, as ThreeStar director, New worked to restructure and expand Tennessee’s community development efforts by launching a more focused activity based program, with incentives and grant monies. A native of Monterey, New worked at both the county government and chamber level, was a Business Profiles host with WCTE-TV and an account executive with MMA Creative prior to her work with TNECD.
“When our communities engage actively in community development to improve their quality of life, education, workforce and overall health they are building a foundation for economic development,” New said. “The private sector will only invest in communities that first invest in themselves. We will use the opportunity to proactively work with partner agencies and our communities to attract investment and jobs to rural Tennessee.”