Craig Buerstatte

Craig Buerstatte is an entrepreneurial public servant who is passionate about building teams, businesses, and communities for the future. He first honed his innovation skills in remote areas of Iraq as an Army Officer, developing new supply chain solutions and infrastructure when resources were strained. Craig leveraged this experience to jump into entrepreneurship, founding a technology firm and investing in startups in Austin, Texas, before returning to public service to help the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) grow its Office of Innovation & Entrepreneurship (OIE). As Director for OIE, he led new policy initiatives and grant programs that promoted technology innovation and talent development as tools for economic development—growing the portfolio nearly 400% and scaling its impacts to over $1.6 billion in private investment capital and 14,000 jobs.

Today, Craig serves as EDA’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regional Affairs, responsible for the implementation, growth, and evaluation of EDA’s economic development programs and policies. This work brings together the tools and expertise across EDA’s six regional offices, national program teams, and performance division to create more robust and resilient regional economies across America.

Craig also serves as a member of the Federal Innovation Council, a team of civil servant leaders advising the Partnership for Public Service on strategies to move the Federal Government into a modern, 21st Century enterprise. When not trying to push government forward, he can be found digging in his evergreen garden on Capitol Hill or kayak fishing somewhere around the DMV.

Craig’s foundation in economic development can be traced through his education. He earned a B.S. in Economics from the United States Military Academy at West Point, and an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.