Photo Caption: Then Assistant Secretary Baruah presenting a $1.5 million check tothe City of Lakewood

“My time at EDA was a rewarding professional experience. I had the opportunity to work with many dedicated and smart public servants working hard to make economic opportunity more available to more Americans – and that is a goal that everyone can applaud.” – Sandy Baruah, EDA Assistant Secretary 2005-2008

Photo Caption: Then Assistant Secretary John Fernandez at a ground- breaking with future (and current) Assistant Secretary Jay Williams in Hermitage, PA

“Happy 50th Birthday EDA! As a former Assistant Secretary for Economic Development I’m honored to have been part of this legacy change for America’s most economically challenged regions. Since its inception in 1965, EDA's transformative investments have been helping create jobs and build more competitive communities. Today, EDA's Regional Innovation Strategies program, including the i6 Challenge, continue this important work levering private-public partnerships to accelerate innovation and job creation across America.” – John Fernandez, EDA Assistant Secretary 2009-2012

Balloon marking the ground breaking ceremony site for the EDA-funded Mayaguez Regional Distribution Center site in Puerto Rico in March 1971.

A cargo ship under construction at the Seatrain’s Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1969. EDA invested in the facility, which created 3,000 jobs at the time.

Bridge construction as part of an access road funded by EDA in Garfield County, Utah in the 1960s.

Instructor with a student at an EDA-supported vocational-technical school in Eveleth, Minnesota in the 1970s.

Women working an early version of a “clean room” at the Burroughs Corporation plant in Rancho Bernando, California assembling micro-electric components in the 1960s.