Meet Our Team:

Danielle Blakely, Economic Development Specialist

Hannah Barnett, Deputy Economic Development Representative

The Denver Regional Office has welcomed two new faces to the team.

Danielle Blakely is an Economic Development Specialist and will be administering American Rescue Plan Statewide Planning grants and Build to Scale grants.

She originally joined the Department of Commerce in 2000 as an International Trade Specialist with the International Trade Administration (ITA) and enjoyed assignments in the Seattle, Baltimore, and Denver U.S. Export Assistance Centers. While with ITA, she served as the Global Aerospace and Defense Team Leader, where her job was to maximize opportunities for U.S. aerospace manufacturers to increase their international sales along with a worldwide team of industry specialists. In 2017, she transitioned to the private sector as the manager for international trade compliance at defense contractor Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC).  She is thrilled to have found the opportunity to move back to public service with EDA.

Danielle is a Francophile who graduated from the University of Washington with two degrees; one in business administration and the other in French Linguistics. She’s had the opportunity to live and work in France and will take any opportunity to parle français. 

Hannah Barnett is joining EDA as a Deputy Economic Development Representative. She will be assisting Steve Castaner in providing support to Missouri applicants and grantees.

Hannah is joining EDA through an interagency agreement with the Ozark Foothills Regional Planning Commission. She has more than six years of experience providing support and disaster recovery services for small communities and counties through community and economic development in the Missouri Bootheel and Ozark Foothills regions. She also established a volunteer services department to serve low-income, disenfranchised populations, has managed more than $6.3 million in local, state, and federal investments, and has developed several successful EDA construction and non-construction grant applications.

She holds a master’s degree in public administration from Arkansas State University.

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