California's San Joaquin Valley is a paradox. Perhaps the most productive agricultural area in the world, annually feeding much of the globe while generating billions of dollars in agricultural revenue, the region is in dire need of economic development.

From left to right: Paul Venosdel, state director of USDA's Rural Development Agency; Ann Marie Sudduth, HUD field office director, Fresno; Josh Valdez, HHS Secretary's Regional Representative, San Francisco; and Lily Lee, HUD.

In addition to HUD, the task force includes the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Interior, Education, Health and Human Services, Energy, Labor, Transportation, the Attorney General, the Directors of National Drug Enforcement and Control Policy, and the Office of Management and Budget, the Administrators of the General Services Administration, Small Business Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Located in the middle of California, the San Joaquin Valley is bordered by Los Angeles 230 miles to the South, and San Francisco 180 miles to the North. The Valley is home to 3.2 million culturally diverse people, including 42.5 percent who are Hispanic. While its population has grown an average of 20 percent per year since 1990, the poverty rate has averaged 23.5 percent (30 percent among children). Unemployment hovers around 13 percent. Thirteen of the state's 19 poorest cities are found here. Less than half of the region's 9th graders ever graduate from high school, and of those, only 23 percent enroll in college. The region has a severe shortage of affordable housing and is rapidly losing farmland to real estate development. It also struggles with the third worst air quality in the country, lacks the transportation infrastructure needed to serve the growing population, and faces pervasive health problems, including the country's highest asthma rates.

One key to overcoming the economic challenges facing the San Joaquin Valley is better coordination of the many Federal programs that provide resources and solutions.

To that end, representatives from 16 federal agencies, including HUD, recently met to kick-off the first monthly meeting of the Central San Joaquin Valley Interagency Task Force to discuss strategies and plans for coordinating, collaborating, and addressing the many challenges faced by the Valley.

More than 300 business leaders, city and county officials, public agencies and nonprofit directors attended the half-day meeting. Fresno Mayor Alan Autry, Congressman George Radanovich and Congressman Calvin Dooley addressed the audience, and federal representatives discussed their programs and resources. Lily Lee, HUD's acting director for Region IX, addressed the group and emphasized the local impact of HUD/FHA programs.

The task force discussed specific goals and interagency activities, including working with school districts to improve literacy among children, organizing multi-disciplinary health and housing fairs, integrating planning projects for transportation infrastructure and implementing business development loan programs.

The task force is scheduled to meet for the next five years, with the lead agency rotating annually between the USDA, the current lead, and HUD and Commerce.