President of National Rural Development Organization Elected

    JOHNSON CITY, TX, December 16, 2015 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The National Rural Economic Developers Association (NREDA) has unanimously elected Trista Fugate as President during the organization's annual membership meeting held during the 2015 NREDA Annual Conference in Denver, CO for a one year term. She will assume the role on January 1st.

For the past nine years, Ms. Fugate has led the Community & Economic Development team for Pedernales Electric Cooperative, Inc. (PEC) where she supervises a team of professionals responsible for providing community and economic development assistance throughout the cooperative's service area. Pedernales Electric Cooperative, based in Johnson City, Texas, is the nation's largest electric distribution cooperative, serving more than 272,000 meters across an 8,100-square-mile service area.

Ms. Fugate has worked in the economic development field for over 16 years. Prior to her employment with PEC, she was a Location Specialist in the Domestic Expansion and Recruitment division of the Office of the Governor, Economic Development and Tourism, where she was primarily responsible for Marketing Texas and promoting the advantages of doing business in Texas. She, her husband, and son originally moved to the Austin area from San Antonio when Ms. Fugate was offered a senior consultant position with Ryan, a global tax services firm headquartered in Dallas. While at Ryan, she worked in the firm's Credits and Incentives Practice, specializing in the Texas Enterprise Zone program. Before this move, Ms. Fugate worked for CPS Energy, San Antonio's municipally-owned gas and electric company, where she was active in business and economic development activities throughout the utility's service area. Ms. Fugate is a graduate of the Basic Economic Development Course at Texas A&M University as well as The University of Oklahoma's Economic Development Institute. In addition, she has a BA in Criminal Justice - Legal Studies emphasis and a Masters of Public Administration from The University of Texas at San Antonio.

About NREDA
NREDA is an organization of 280 economic development professionals focused upon the issues and opportunities of rural America. It is dedicated to meeting the unique needs of its membership through ongoing education and networking programs, while serving as an information source and conduit for developers, site selectors and existing/prospective businesses to NREDA members and the areas they serve. For more information about NREDA visit http://www.nreda.org or contact NREDA headquarters at (515) 284-1421.

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