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Montana Governor Steve Bullock announces top-level appointee changes

Governor Bullock Announces Cabinet Directors

Governor thanks Cabinet Directors for their service; announces appointments for second term

MONTANA – Governor Steve Bullock today announced the following reappointments to his Cabinet:

* Mike Tooley as Director of the Department of Transportation;

* Major General Matt Quinn as the Director of the Department of Military Affairs and the Adjutant General for the Montana National Guard;

* Angela Wong as Montana Lottery Director;

* Pam Bucy as the Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Industry;

* John Tubbs as the Director of the Department of Natural Resources;

* Tom Livers as the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality; and

* Mike Kadas as the Director of the Department of Revenue.

"Today we celebrate the exceptional public service of these outstanding leaders," said Governor Bullock. "Montana has benefited greatly as a result of their tireless efforts and I look forward to working with each of these dedicated public servants both personally and professionally as we move forward." said Bullock.

The Governor also announced the following Cabinet directors will be leaving their posts to retire from state government or seek opportunities in the private sector:

* Department of Corrections Director Mike Batista;

* Department of Health & Human Services Director Richard Opper;

* Department of Commerce Director Meg O’Leary;

* Department of Agriculture Ron De Yong;

* Department of Fish Wildlife and Parks Director Jeff Hagener;

* Governor’s Office of Economic Development Director John Rogers.

Sheila Hogan, Director, Department of Public Health and Human Services:

Governor Bullock has selected current Sheila Hogan to serve as the Director of the Department of Public Health and Human Services. Hogan currently has served as the Director of Administration for the last four years where she has been a champion of public service, streamlining processes online, cutting red tape and making it more accessible for Montana businesses to do business with the state. Hogan was appointed to serve as the Director of Administration by Governor Bullock in 2013. Previously, she served as the executive director of the Career Training Institute in Helena, MT for 20 years. She has a bachelor’s degree in business and public policy from Montana Tech-University of Montana. Hogan has held numerous leadership roles in workforce and economic development organizations throughout Montana. Hogan is married to Jim Edwards and collectively have four children, two grandchildren, and a Labrador named Led Zeppelin.

John Lewis: Director, Department of Administration:

Governor Bullock has selected John Lewis to replace Hogan as the Director of the Department of Administration. Lewis served for 12 years as a top advisor and Montana Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator Max Baucus. Working for Senator Baucus, Lewis spearheaded legislation giving businesses incentives to hire veterans. In 2011, John traveled to all 56 counties across Montana, meeting with every mayor of the state’s 129 incorporated cities and towns getting to know them better and hearing their community needs. Born in Billings, John met his future wife Melissa at Western Washington University in 1996. John and Melissa reside in Helena with their daughter Kate, son Jackson – and newborn baby boy Luke.

Loraine Wodnik, Interim Director, Department of Corrections:

Governor Bullock has appointed Loraine Wodnik to serve as the Interim Director of the Department of Corrections while a national search is conducted to replace Director Batista. Wodnik has served the State of Montana in several roles over the last 24 years. For the past three and a half years, she has served as the Deputy Director for the Montana Department of Corrections, working to make Corrections a better place for both the employees of the agency and the offenders in the department’s custody. In 2015, the Interagency Committee for Change by Women selected Wodnik to receive the Excellence in Leadership Award for achievement in State Government. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a master’s degree in Public Administration. Wodnik is married to Joe Wodnik and together they have four grown children.

Governor Bullock continues to have ongoing discussions about his remaining Cabinet appointments and will make announcements as decisions are made in the upcoming weeks.

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Montana Career Opportunities – Information Management Bureau Chief, Communications Director, Senior Computer Systems Analyst, GIS Analyst and many more… – State of Montana http://www.matr.net/article-74614.html

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Six of Montana Gov. Steve Bullock’s cabinet members will be leaving the administration before his second term begins next month, and replacements have been found for two of them so far, the Democratic governor said Friday.

The governor thanked the departing appointees for their service in a news conference at the state Capitol.

"Every large organization goes through change, and the state of Montana is no different," Bullock said.

Full Story: http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/bullock-announces-top-level-appointee-changes/article_d4d0081f-9b6b-56c9-895d-912aa3f0e1a3.html

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Paul Tuss, President of the Board of Directors for the Montana Economic Developers Association (MEDA), issued this statement following today’s announcement by Governor Steve Bullock about changes to his Cabinet:

Today Governor Bullock announced that John Rogers, Montana’s Chief Business Development Officer, will be retiring effective December 31, 2016.

MEDA is proud that John Rogers, who has been integral to Montana’s economic growth for more than 30 years, has supported businesses, local communities and their workforce, and economic development leaders during that time.

Under Governor Bullock’s Administration, John Rogers’ promotion of Montana has been a labor of love and has elevated our identity as a great state for business while steadfastly holding to Montana’s intrinsic values.

Tuss stated that John Rogers asked him to express his personal thanks " … to the Montana Economic Developers Association, the Montana Ambassadors, fellow state and federal partners, my dedicated and hard-working staff, and others who steadfastly supported these efforts. I am humbled by the support shown for the hard work and dedication of Governor Bullock and this Administration."

MEDA will have contact information for John Rogers following his retirement. Contact Gloria O’Rourke at [email protected]

The following are significant accomplishments for the Governor’s Office of Economic Development during John’s tenure as Montana’s Chief Business Development Officer, from 2013 to 2016:

1. Establishment of the Choose Montana brand to support an economic development posture "Big Sky + Big Opportunity."

2. Enhanced website at Business.mt.gov highlighting the business-friendly economic climate and the robust industry sectors that make up Montana’s economy.

3. Created the Montana Economic Development Report, released the spring of 2015; highlighting Montana’s key industries and emerging innovative industries, rankings, and success stories.

4. Increased business marketing to support Montana’s industry sectors such as the Bio-International Show, Photonics West, the Global Petroleum Show, and Select USA.

5. Enhanced marketing of Montana through a Delta Magazine "Profile: Montana" article consisting of 36 page article featuring Montana as a great place to live, work, and play.

6. Increased marketing to site selectors in support of local development corporations by conducting outreach missions across the US.

7. Enhanced the Montana Site Selector website by utilizing the cloud to provide automatic data updates as soon as they are available, thus reducing the overall cost of updating the information each year – a savings of about $26,000 per year, making this website affordable to all those who need to use it

8. Enhancement of the InnovateMontana.com website to be Montana’s entrepreneurial website; offering resources, highlighting emerging industries, and promoting successful innovators.

9. Montana has been ranked the leading state in the nation for startups and entrepreneurship for 4 years in a row, according to the Kauffman Foundation.

10. Creation of the Montana Business Navigator, the first of its kind, a state on-line tool to assist new businesses to find required permits. The architecture for the program will allow enhancements in the future to add local government permits to the site and to improve information about resources for businesses. The Navigator has been recognized by receiving two national awards

11. Creation of the new Choose Montana Initiative, aimed at retaining/recruiting workforce to Montana. In its infancy, this program will position Montana to assist businesses and industries in addressing their workforce needs, by aligning efforts, utilizing existing partnerships, and highlighting Montana’s quality of life, business climate, and job opportunities across multiple sectors, in all regions.

12. Establishment of the first-ever Innovate Montana Symposium as part of the Main Street Montana Project. Taking its cue from the Small Business and Downtown KIN, GOED worked with its partners to develop a peer-to-peer Symposium that featured private sector leaders providing insights into business practices, highlighting Montana’s industry clusters, and creating an unsurpassed environment for business networking. This first-of-its-kind Symposium was attended by 450+ business, government, and economic development leaders from around the state.

13. Created the Small Business Road Show aimed at small and medium size communities throughout the state that do not regularly have access to entrepreneurship-related events. These Road Shows are organized in cooperation with local economic development groups but feature successful entrepreneurs from similar size communities to lead the discussion about how to spur entrepreneurship and to provide technical assistance to aspiring business owners.

14. Supported specific projects and initiatives in communities across the state in support of economic development.

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