Katie Albaugh joined the Office of Economic Development (OED) team in August of 2015 as the Agriculture Business Development Specialist. Today, Katie is a champion for the agriculture and craft beverage industries in Frederick County. Katie’s primary focus is on promoting agricultural opportunities and assisting agricultural businesses. She serves as a liaison to the county on behalf of the agriculture industry, and assists with permitting, zoning and land use issues related to agriculture.
Some of her projects include the Homegrown Frederick Magazine, produced in partnership with Frederick Magazine, which features direct-to-consumer farms, as well as a complementary website featuring an online farmers market. She assisted in the creation of the new “How to Start a Winery, Brewery, and Distillery” guide, the production of OED’s newest video project on Frederick County Craft Beverages, and spearheaded the new Homegrown Frederick Wineries, Breweries, Distilleries Showcase at the Great Frederick Fair.
Katie is a Frederick native, who credits her passion for agriculture to growing up on her family’s dairy farm and being involved in the 4-H and FFA programs. Today with her family, she raises Milking Shorthorn dairy cattle to exhibit at shows across the United States. She graduated from Virginia Tech in 2009 with a Bachelors in Dairy Science. Katie enjoys giving back to the FFA program and helping with the Farm Bureau. Katie is a graduate of the LEAD Maryland program, a 2-year program that focuses on providing public issues education, leadership development and personal growth to develop leaders to serve agriculture, natural resources and rural communities.