WASHINGTON, October 2, 2020 — Effective October 11, 2020, Becki Meyer, Byron Waters, Karissa Stiers, and Laurie Warzinski, will become the first Regional Directors of USDA Rural Development’s Multifamily Housing Field Operations Division

The Field Operations Division was created as part of the Multifamily Housing organizational realignment, which will improve customer service delivery, facilitate consistent program implementation and increase oversight of the portfolio through the use of modern-day risk-based servicing tools.

Becki, Byron, Karissa and Laurie will lead Field Operations staff in teams throughout the country, performing day to day servicing tasks, addressing owner, tenant, or other stakeholder needs, and monitoring property performance to ensure compliance with Multifamily Housing’s financial and physical requirements. The Regional Directors will provide asset management oversight and policy direction to their teams, with guidance from Jen Larson’s new Asset Management Division, and will also support our preservation and affordable housing production mission goals, led by Lauryn Enrico in our new Production and Preservation Division.

Our four new Regional Directors bring extensive yet diverse leadership experience and will apply those skills as they lead their teams through the standup of our new Field Operations Division and into the future of Multifamily Housing within Rural Development. Each Regional Director will report to Ernie Wetherbee, Director, Field Operation Division.

USDA Rural Development encourages Multifamily Housing stakeholders and partners to reach out to their Regional Director to build on existing partnerships and forge new ones. Below you will find their contact information along with the new MFH organizational chart.

Becki Meyer, Regional Director, Western Region, [email protected]

(AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY)

Byron Waters, Regional Director, Southern Region, [email protected]

(AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC,OK, PR, SC, TN, TX, VI)

Karissa Stiers, Regional Director, Midwest Region, [email protected]

(IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI)

Laurie Warzinski, Regional Director, Northeast Region, [email protected] 

(CT, DE, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VA, VT, WV)

For program information…

• Farm Labor Direct Loans & Grants
• Housing Preservation & Revitalization Demonstration Loans & Grants
• Housing Preservation Grants
• Multi-Family Housing Direct Loans
• Multi-Family Housing Loan Guarantees
• Multi-Family Housing Rental Assistance
• Rural Housing Site Loans