Kent Leonhardt

Economy

Kent Leonhardt supports efforts to grow the tourism industry in West Virginia by expanding the opportunities for agritourism. Kent is an avid supporter of Farm to Table/Fork events across the state. These events allow the public to learn firsthand about their dinner, interact with the farmers who grew the food and enjoy a nutritious meal. Numerous other opportunities are available for agriculture to interact with the public and Kent believes we need to focus more efforts to encourage these interactions. Learn more

Kent Leonhardt believes the job of our government is to work to encourage a free market that will create growth of all businesses, rather than cavalierly eliminating jobs and destroying local economies with lawsuits and burdensome regulations. Learn more

Kent has encouraged expansion of agriculture into urban areas. Kent supports initiatives that teach consumers about where food comes from, and champions programs that allow non- farmers to develop a stronger connection to West Virginia’s farms. He is helping to promote and grow our specialty food businesses to better enable West Virginia products to be sold within and outside of West Virginia. Learn more

Kent and his staff are actively working with other state departments of agriculture and the United States Department of Agriculture to implement the 2018 Farm Bill. Since the farm bill was signed into law, Kent has been working with his colleagues around the nation to get the USDA to release the rules for the new opportunities offered by industrial hemp. Learn more