The head of the state Department of Economic and Community Development is putting her own stamp on the agency after 10 months on the job.
DECD Commissioner Joan McDonald said that under a reorganization expected to be completed within a few weeks, the state’s lead economic development unit would be focused on three areas: policy and strategy, economic development, and “responsible” community development.
McDonald said the changes were being made in response to concerns raised by those who attended 10 public hearings over the last year and to better conform with what she said was Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s “agenda of responsible growth, job creation and work force development.”
The commissioner said the changes would not lead to any major management changes or added costs and that it had so far generated no negative staff feedback.
“It’s just a more cohesive realignment,” she said.
“I’ve experienced firsthand how some managers come in and, in the first or second week on the job, implement sweeping changes,” she added. “That really doesn’t work, so I decided we needed to be more thoughtful about a reorganization.”
An organizational chart included in the DECD’s latest annual report showed the agency with eight distinct offices, including the office of the commissioner.
McDonald, in a three-page memorandum sent to staffers last week, wrote that the agency over the next several years expected to grapple with issues such as work force competitiveness, housing, economic climate and transportation.
She said she wanted to “better align” the “one-stop” opportunities for businesses by having four groups working on business and industry development, international and domestic affairs, financial reviews and quality assurance reports to Deputy Commissioner Ronald F. Angelo Jr.
In the memo, McDonald added that she was forming a new section on strategy and policy that would focus on economic competitiveness, work force training and “all areas of strategy and planning.”
She said she also was establishing a second new unit under the rubric “Responsible Development,” which would implement the provisions of a special task force and report directly to her.
Moreover, the commissioner said she was consolidating all of the housing programs within the agency’s purview “to speak with one voice to advance the housing agenda with our partners” at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, and “the development community.”
