GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER APPOINTS WILL BROWN CDFA UNDERSECRETARY

SACRAMENTO – Governor Schwarzenegger has announced the appointment of Will Brown as undersecretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

Brown, 58, of San Mateo, has a broad background in both business and government, and a long history of working with agricultural and consumer food distribution and retail interests, as well as on a wide range of federal and state public policy issues.  Since 2003, he has operated his own government relations and public affairs consulting practice, Will Brown Government & Public Affairs, with offices in Sacramento and Austin, TX.  Immediately prior, from 2001 to 2003, Brown served as a government relations consultant for Lang, Hanson, O’Malley and Miller in Sacramento, and previously, from 1989 to 2001, managed offices in Sacramento and Austin as director of the western region for Albers & Company, a Washington D.C. based, multi-state, government affairs consulting and public policy research firm. From 1986 to 1989 he served as the principal consultant to the California State Assembly’s Committee on Finance and Insurance.

He came to the Legislature after serving as a corporate finance officer and operations manager for Bank of America’s World Banking Division from 1979 to 1986.  He has previous experience as a financial analyst for mergers and acquisitions with Marshall and Stevens, and as a legislative aide staffing a member of Congress on the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee.  Brown has an MBA in finance and management from Washington University in St. Louis, and a BA in political science and economics from San Francisco State University.

“It is my pleasure to welcome Will Brown to our agency,” said CDFA Secretary A.G. Kawamura.  “He brings valuable experience and will work alongside me as we continue to promote and protect the environment and the vital contributions of California’s farmers and ranchers.”