Josué E. Rivera is an Economic Developer, Financier, Federal Policy Expert, and Public Servant. He was sworn in as the District Director of the U.S. Small Business Administration District Office for Puerto Rico-U.S. Virgin Islands District Office in late January 2021. He served the nation as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development State Director for Puerto Rico from April 2018 to January 2021.
During that time, he organized the first Puerto Rico Rural Lending Investment Summit, achieved Puerto Rico’s selection as a state pilot program for the Single-Family Housing Repair program, and convoked industry-leading roundtables in telecommunications and public health, respectively, with federal and state partners.
During his first year in office, Josué received a Gears of Government Award from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget in 2018 for the recovery effort. Due to his negotiation skills, the agency completed the largest public utility restructuring in Rural Development’s portfolio, over a $400 million transaction involving the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA).
Previously, Rivera served as a Policy Advisor with the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration (PRFAA), an agency that represents the Governor of Puerto Rico in Washington, D . is advocacy portfolio included issues such as finance, small business, agriculture, telecommunications, interstate commerce, air cargo deregulation, employee retention credit, HUBZone’s, and federal tax reform.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, he worked directly with FEMA’s National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) and the National Business Emergency Operations Center (NBEOC) to expedite the recovery effort. He also led advocacy sessions and delegations to Capitol Hill, whose work ultimately resulted in the historical appropriation of disaster supplemental funds for Puerto Rico. The Association of University of the Puerto Rico Alumni and Friends Abroad (UPRAA) recognized Mr. Rivera with the Distinguished Alumni Award for his Hurricane María recovery efforts.
Raised in Toa Baja, Mr. Rivera enjoyed a productive career. At the same time, he was a student at the University of Puerto Rico at Bayamon, where he majored in accounting and earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration. Josué previously practiced audit in an associate-level role at PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC). He also practiced as an associate at a local firm, Falcón Sánchez & Associates.
Mr. Rivera has been awarded by multiple renowned institutions for his execution, receiving the 2020 President Theodore Roosevelt Award – Director Category by the Government Executive Magazine, the 2021 Women Economic Forum – Women of the Decade Award for Community Service, the 2021 Zenit Award by the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce, and the 2020 USDA Under Secretary Award for Excellence. In 2022, Rivera was selected as an Ideas Fellow of the Aspen Institute in Aspen, Colorado.