With a new governor coming into office, DEED Commissioner Dan McElroy will be taking a new position as the president of Hospitality Minnesota. Hospitality Minnesota is the management entity of the Minnesota Restaurant Association, the Minnesota Lodging Association, and the Minnesota Resort and Campground Association.
McElroy joined Governor Pawlenty's leadership team in 2003 as commissioner of finance and later served as the governor's chief of staff before becoming the Governor's senior adviser on innovation in 2005. He has been the DEED Commissioner since 2007.
McElroy has been interested in many of the offerings of Extension's Community Economics team. There were several occasions when I would run into him at events and he would ask how certain projects were progressing because his staff filled him in on projects that included his staff and Extension. My hope is that our relationship with him can stay strong since Extension offers tourism development programs.
Dan has been an excellent DEED commissioner and I'm sure he'll do a great job with hospitality Minnesota.
He'll probably join the TC advisory committee since his predecessor was on it. That guy is sharp as a tack. John Edmonds, from EMT, was a little surprised to see McElroy get the job at Hosp. MN because he is seen as a partisan player.