Steve Castaner
Field Representative, U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration
Steve Castaner currently serves as the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration (EDA) representative for Iowa and East/Central Missouri.
From 2003-2013, Castaner served a key role in FEMA Region VII (Kansas City), providing leadership and expert-level assistance to recovery operations throughout the country. He held leadership roles for significant long-term recovery operations in Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Louisiana, Florida and multiple locations in Missouri, including Joplin. Many of the concepts now employed in the National Disaster Recovery Framework were pioneered by Castaner, who is widely regarded for his ability to coordinate and cooperate with other federal, state and local agencies. After the Joplin tornado (2011), he teamed with EDA and the Business and Civic Leadership Center to create a comprehensive investment partners conference that involved the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, several national foundations and federal and state agencies to spur community recovery projects.
Castaner uses his experience as an economic and community development director, city administrator and federal official to apply pragmatic strategies to local, long-term disaster recovery and has presented recovery concepts, principles and applications at conferences and workshops across the country.
