Kyle Wilkens Joins MVC Faculty
Missouri Valley College is welcoming a former federal official to its faculty this fall–Kyle Wilkens.
Wilkens most recently served as the chief executive for USDA Rural Development in Missouri for the past four years. He will be teaching agribusiness and history courses at MVC.
Wilkens has had a diverse career, spanning from being a congressional liaison for agriculture, rural infrastructure, and military issues to leading a Federal Government Agency focused primarily on rural development. He brings statewide and national agriculture contacts to Missouri Valley.
“I’m excited to be a part of the Missouri Valley team,” he said. “And I am looking forward to getting to know some amazing students.”
Wilkens is a graduate of the Agricultural Leadership of Tomorrow (ALOT) class of 2021. The Missouri ALOT program provides advanced leadership experiences that will make a positive impact on the future of agriculture and agribusiness in Missouri and beyond. He was awarded the Dr. J. Bruce Bullock Outstanding Alumni Award in 2021, the sole recipient of his ALOT graduating class.
As USDA state director, he led a team of 77 staff members bringing over $4.6 billion in federal funding to the state for rural community growth and infrastructure in the form of loans and grants, making Missouri one of the most productive states in the nation during this four-year period.
He has built strong relationships with agriculture industry and USDA leadership as well as gained extensive knowledge and funding strategies on rural community infrastructure, agriculture business and broadband high-speed internet infrastructure.
For more than 17 years, he worked in Washington, D.C. on Capitol Hill and in Missouri for two Congressmen. Most recently serving Congressman Emanuel Cleaver as Rural Policy Director handling agriculture, rural housing and infrastructure issues. Wilkens worked a variety of administrative and policy positions for Congressman Ike Skelton.
Wilkens earned his bachelor’s in political science and history from the University of Central Missouri and a master’s in world history from Missouri State University.