Betsy Dirksen Londrigan of Springfield is taking a senior staff position with the United States Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C.

Dirksen Londrigan, 52, has served as Illinois director of Rural Development for the past two years.

The lifelong Springfield resident will begin her role as administrator for the Rural Business-Cooperative Service starting in late January, replacing Karama Neal, who is leaving USDA and returning to Arkansas. 

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The USDA’s Rural Business-Cooperative Service offers programs to help businesses grow as well as job training for people living in rural areas.

Dirksen Londrigan came within a percentage point of toppling incumbent U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis in the 13th District Congressional race in 2018. She lost by nine percentage points in a rematch in 2020.

Deputy State Director Molly Hammond will step in as acting director for Rural Development.

Dirksen Londrigan’s family members still own and operate a centennial farm in central Illinois.

Dirksen Londrigan graduated from Springfield High School and studied rhetoric and political science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She taught middle school with Teach for America in Baltimore, then returned to Springfield and worked for the alumni association at UIS.

She and her husband, Tom, have two adult children.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.