After a year in office, Governor Matt Bevin has chosen a Louisville businessman with economic development experience to lead the state agency tasked with luring new industries to Kentucky and aiding existing businesses in hopes they expand.
The Republican’s selection of Terry R. Gill Jr. as his secretary of the Cabinet for Economic Development comes as Bevin and other GOP leaders prepare a 2017 legislative agenda that is expected to focus on economic growth and job creation.
Bevin praised Gill for his “business competence and a passion for economic development.”
Republicans will be in complete control of the General Assembly after their historic takeover of the state House in last month’s election. The GOP’s agenda includes right-to-work legislation, which would make it illegal for companies to force employees to join labor unions. Bevin’s to-do list includes overhauling the state’s tax code.
Bevin inherited an acting economic development secretary from his Democratic predecessor, Steve Beshear. Erik Dunnigan took over for Larry Hayes in November 2015 when Hayes retired; Dunnigan had been his deputy secretary.
Bevin took office the next month. Dunnigan departed last month for a private-sector job, and another acting secretary for the Cabinet department, which has about 65 employees, wasn’t appointed.
Bevin maintained the state did not miss a beat in the year without a permanent secretary. Gill’s appointment takes effect January 1.
Source: AP
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