Mark R. Kilduff Named Executive Director of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership

Richmond - The board of directors of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) today appointed Mark R. Kilduff as executive director of the organization after a nationwide search. Since January, Mr. Kilduff had been serving as acting executive director of Partnership, the state authority charged with marketing the Commonwealth to businesses and promoting Virginia exports.

"Mark Kilduff’s professionalism, personal management style and his 30-plus years of service to the Commonwealth of Virginia made him the ideal candidate for this important job," said Tom Fowlkes, Chairman of the VEDP board of directors. "After researching qualified candidates nationwide, the board agreed that Mark’s economic development expertise was unsurpassed."

In endorsing the VEDP board’s action, Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore said, "I have the highest confidence in Mark Kilduff’s capability to oversee and lead Virginia’s economic development efforts into the new millennium."

Mark Kilduff joined the Division of Industrial Development (which later became the Department of Economic Development and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership) in 1967 as an economist. He served as director of industrial development and was responsible for the Division’s economic research and analytic services, the preparation of promotional materials, the management of the Division’s national and international advertising programs, and Virginia’s overall marketing effort. Mr. Kilduff currently serves on the boards of the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority, the Virginia Employment Commission’s Trust Fund Advisory Committee, and the Virginia Tech Economic Development Advisory Board. He is a graduate of the Colgate Darden School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame.

"I have witnessed firsthand how Virginia’s economic development community trusts and respects the leadership and dedication of Mark Kilduff," said Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Barry E. DuVal. "Mark is a true team player and will assist the Governor in carrying out the initiatives outlined in The Virginia Strategy to ensure that all regions of the Commonwealth share in our economic success."

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership was created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1995 to encourage, stimulate, and support the development and expansion of the economy of the Commonwealth. The Partnership is a state authority, which is governed by a 15-member Board of Directors appointed by the Governor. Its Executive Director oversees all of the functions of the Partnership and is employed by the Board. To accomplish its objectives of promoting economic expansion within the Commonwealth, the Partnership focuses its efforts on business development and international trade.

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