Extension center head started career in Basin  

New director first served as regional economics agent for OSU, beginning in 1989  

By TY BEAVER

H&N Staff Writer

May 3, 2007

    Willie Riggs has come home.

   The New Mexico native is the new director of the Klamath Basin Research and Extension Center . Riggs began his professional career in the Klamath Basin and Lake County .

The new director said his goal is to assert the importance of the center and the role of agriculture in the Basin.

   Riggs first came to the Basin in 1989 and served as a regional economics agent for Oregon State University . Based in Klamath Falls , he also served Lake , Jefferson and Crook counties. In 1991, he moved to Lake County for six years to serve as the OSU extension agent before working for the Nevada Cooperative Extension Service.

Born in Southwest

   “I was born in the Southwest, but all my training has been in the Great Basin ,” Riggs said.

   Riggs is replacing Ron Hathaway, who is retiring after 35 years with the extension service. The new director is jumping head first into his new duties. He met with local officials throughout the week and reacquainted himself with the community. He also will attend the portion of Klamath County ’s budget hearings regarding the center and its projects.  

 
Ron Hathaway, left, retiring director of the Klamath Basin Research and Extension Center , goes over data with new director Willie Riggs. Riggs will take over management of the center when Hathaway’s retirement becomes effective May 31. 

   The Klamath Basin changed in the years he’s been gone, but Riggs said two important things about the community have not — local respect for Oregon State University and the economic importance of agriculture. 

   Those fit well into Riggs’ goals. With the recent merging of the Klamath Basin Experiment Station and Klamath County OSU Extension, he said it is important to inform the public of the change and how it will benefit them. 

   Emphasizing the role of Basin agriculture on the local economy also is important, Riggs said. He plans to make a presentation to Klamath County commissioners in the near future to illustrate how agriculture pumps about $410 million into the economy. 

   In the future, the new director said he’d like to have a comprehensive needs assessment of the center completed. The assessment would ensure the center and its staff are providing the services needed in the Basin.  

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