Governor Kasich Names Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist to Lead Department of Development

Governor John Kasich announced last week that veteran venture capitalist, Mark Kvamme, has been chosen to lead the Ohio Department of Development.  Kvamme resigned his position with Sequoia Capital to take on the role of Interim Director for a projected six months and for a salary of one dollar.  He has been with Sequoia since 1999.  Sequoia is recognized as one of the top VC firms in the Silicon Valley and has helped fund technology standouts including Google, PayPal, Apple, Cisco Systems, YouTube LinkedIn and Oracle.  

Although Kvamme’s full agenda for transitioning the Department of Development will be announced later, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal  he says he intends to spend five to seven months with the state helping transition the Department of Development’s lead on economic development to a new private, nonprofit entity called JobsOhio. The new entity, will reportedly consist of a 12-member governor-appointed board of business and industry experts to drive Ohio’s economic development strategy. After Kvamme’s work is complete, a full-time chief executive will be appointed.

“It’s like a VC job,” Kvamme said. “It’s like starting a new company. We’re going to take a Silicon Valley start-up approach to economic development.”

For more on the story, see coverage in
The Wall Street Journal
The Columbus Dispatch
Business First