Mayor Reed Names Brian McGowan as ADA President

May 18,2011

Mayor Kasim Reed today named Brian P. McGowan as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Atlanta Development Authority. McGowan has served as U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce and COO for the U.S. Economic Development Administration since September 2009. McGowan was also detailed to the White House from July to November 2010 to establish and lead an Economic Solutions Group within the National Incident Command to help communities along the gulf mitigate the economic impacts of the BP oil spill.

Before joining the Obama Administration, McGowan was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and served as California’s Deputy Secretary for Economic Development and Commerce in the Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency. Prior to that, he was appointed as the Economic Development Agency Administrator for the County of San Bernardino, California, overseeing four departments focused on economic development, community development and housing, redevelopment, and workforce development. He also worked for the Cities of Ontario and Palm Springs in California. In addition, McGowan served as a consultant on a U.S. Agency for International Development funded program to help cities in Bulgaria and Serbia create economic development and growth strategies.

While serving the State of California, McGowan created the California iHub program to strengthen California’s economic clusters and the California Certified Sites program to accelerate the development process for new projects. McGowan also served on the boards of the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, the California Employment Training Panel, the California Workforce Investment Board, the International Trade Advisory Committee and the California Travel and Tourism Commission.

While serving in the Obama Administration, McGowan worked to modernize the Economic Development Administration by streamlining operating systems, created new “innovation challenge” programs, supported America’s regions through new trade and foreign direct investment programs, developed new “economic cluster” initiatives and expanded EDA’s role in leading the federal economic development agenda. A tireless advocate of small businesses and entrepreneurship, he recently was tapped by President Obama to be part of an initiative that engages directly with America’s businesses create jobs and increase competitiveness. He also served on the U.S. Historic Preservation Board and was elected Vice Chair of the Rural Working Party for the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris.