About NEEDO

Board and Staff

​Pat Vanderpool, President Ex-Officio
Patrick Vanderpool served as a long-standing member of NEEDO and President of the board since 2019 until he leaving in 2023 to lead the Los Alamos based Rural Development Corporation. Before this appointment, he also served as Executive Director of the Greater Tucumcari Economic Development Corporation.
Pat is a Certified Economic Developer and Chair of the International Economic Development Council’s education and certification committee. He is a Fellow Member of the Council and was recognized by the Board of Directors in 2020 as an Honorary Life Member. He is also an Economic Development Finance Professional. Pat currently serves as the Chair of the New Mexico Small Business Development Center State Advisory Board, and as President of the Northeast New Mexico Economic Development Organization serving nine counties in NE NM. Pat is a member of the Board of Directors of the New Mexico Partnership, a board member and instructor for New Mexico’s Basic Economic Development Course, and an instructor at the University of Oklahoma's Economic Development Institute.
Pat is a Past President of NMIDEA, a former member of the executive Board of Class 4 Winds and Renewables, past president  of the Tucumcari and Moriarty Rotary Clubs, and an Emeritus Member of the Advisory Board of the New Mexico Small Business Assistance Program, a service of Sandia and Los Alamos National Labs. 

Bill Hendrickson, Acting Vice President
Bill Hendrickson is the former Community Development Director of the City of Las Vegas, New Mexico. In that position, he oversaw as range of strategic community and economic departments and activities, including Code Enforcement, Planning & Zoning, Marketing & Media, Grants & Projects, and various boards, commissions and committees, including  Housing.  Bill previously worked for the Roosevelt County NM Community Development Corporation and the Las Vegas San Miguel County Economic Development Corporation. Bill moved into economic development from corporate America working for firms such as Lockheed Martin, GE, RCA and others. Bill has a BA from the University of South Florida and a MBA from the University of Central Florida.

Eva Artschwager, Secretary & Interim Co-Director
Eva Artschwager is the Executive Director of the El Valle Community Center and Villanueva Library, a 501c3 located in rural San Miguel County. In that role, she administers and oversees a range of services and activities and performs all management, administrative, and financial functions. During her three and a half years of leadership, she has professionalized  the organization's processes and practices and increased both the budget and the client base 20 - 30 fold. 
Eva brings to NEEDO over 20 years of experience in higher education,  including university level instruction and leadership positions in Community Education and Community  Training. Since 2012, she has been a part-time consultant in digital equity for the New Mexico State Department of Information Technology, in which role she created and authored the state's Digital Literacy Plan and developed the New Mexico Digital Literacy Curriculum. She has produced a range of high-level reports and documents, including the final assessment and report a federal Broadband Training and Opportunities Program (BTOP) Grant and the annual October report (2022) to the New Mexico State Legislature for the New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion.  
Eva holds a B.S. from the University of California, Berkeley, an M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, and over 60 doctoral level units in History, Education, and Writing. In addition to her role as Secretary for NEEDO, she is, as of June 6, Acting Interim Co-Director for the organization. Eva also serves on the San Miguel Planning and Zoning Advisory Board.

Kristine Olsen, Acting Treasurer & Interim Co-Director
My hometown is Tucumcari, NM, to which I have recently returned to be here for family.   I am a 1997 Graduate of Eastern New Mexico University with Bachelor of Science Degree in Communications and Public Relations.  After graduation, I went to work for the Regional Council of Governments office in Clovis.  I helped work on and fund several projects and did planning grants across Eastern New Mexico.  In 1999 I moved to Texas and spent several years doing economic development, community development, business development, and business recruitment, as well as expansion and Chamber of Commerce work including event planning, tourism marketing, membership development, programming and more.   I also had the opportunity over the years to work with a variety of regional and multi-state organizations related to tourism development and marketing, economic development, transportation and highway projects, and other interest groups.  In addition to earning a bachelor’s degree, I have also earned IOM Certification through the US Chamber of Commerce’s Institute of Organizational Management. 
When I returned to Tucumcari in 2017, I began working in the Insurance Business.  Recently, I was recruited to work with New Mexico State University and NEEDO on the CREATE BRIDGES Workforce Development Project.  Being back in New Mexico gives me a sense that I have come full circle.  Working in the NEEDO region really reiterates that feeling and provides me with the opportunity to share the wealth of knowledge and experience I have gained with the larger northeast community.