Invest Atlanta CEO headed to metro chamber

Education: Bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California at Riverside and master’s degree in politics, economics and business from Claremont Graduate University

Family: Wife, Daniella; sons Dov, Collin, Brian Jr., Conor and Aiden

Born: Bronx, N.Y.

Past experience: Former economic development adviser to former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, appointed by President Barack Obama as a U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce, in which he served as the Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

The Metro Atlanta Chamber is a non-profit business coalition whose board includes some of the most powerful executives in the region. The chamber engages in business recruitment and speaks for the interests of companies on many issues. The organization has also tackled thorny issues outside of traditional business topics, including a drive to change the state flag and helping save Grady Memorial Hospital.

Invest Atlanta is the city’s economic development agency and was formerly known as the Atlanta Development Authority. The agency plays a role in housing assistance, small business lending, bond issuances and provides incentives for economic development prospects. Of late, the agency has taken on a role in trade missions and putting together new initiatives to aid startup companies. Invest Atlanta also is engaged in the Atlanta Falcons stadium project.

The Metro Atlanta Chamber is a non-profit business coalition whose board includes some of the most powerful executives in the region. The chamber engages in business recruitment and speaks for the interests of companies on many issues. The organization has also tackled thorny issues outside of traditional business topics, including a drive to change the state flag and helping save Grady Memorial Hospital.

Invest Atlanta is the city’s economic development agency and was formerly known as the Atlanta Development Authority. The agency plays a role in housing assistance, small business lending, bond issuances and provides incentives for economic development prospects. Of late, the agency has taken on a role in trade missions and putting together new initiatives to aid startup companies. Invest Atlanta also is engaged in the Atlanta Falcons stadium project.

Brian McGowan helped transform and broaden the mission of Atlanta’s economic development agency, Invest Atlanta, when he joined three years ago. Now he is set to become the No. 2 executive at the Metro Atlanta Chamber, an organization undergoing its own change.

The metro chamber of commerce on Thursday announced McGowan as its chief operating officer, a new position in charge of administrative functions, as well helping form the strategic vision for economic development.

He will start next month and report to chamber President Hala Moddelmog, who took over in January from longtime leader Sam Williams.

McGowan said the chamber wants to strengthen its role as a regional voice for business. As part of its five-year strategic plan, the chamber is focusing more on cultivating startups, helping existing businesses expand and marketing the region as a hub of global commerce.

As president and CEO of Invest Atlanta, McGowan shifted its mission beyond housing assistance, small business loans and bonds to focusing on job creation, exports, local business expansion and development of startups.

He said his track record of growing and reshaping an agency is “a signal of what’s to come at the chamber.”

McGowan is the fourth executive to leave Mayor Kasim Reed’s administration since last fall. Former Hartsfield-Jackson International airport manager Louis Miller retired in January, and former city COO Duriya Farooqui left for the private sector later that month. Sonji Jacobs, Reed’s former communications director, left last September to join Cox Enterprises, whose media holdings include The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Searches for their replacements are underway, with now another position to fill as Reed sets his eyes on ambitious projects including a 2015 infrastructure bond referendum.

In a statement, Reed said McGowan “was instrumental in the re-positioning and growth of Invest Atlanta” and that McGowan “will continue to play a vital role in bringing new businesses to the city and the metropolitan Atlanta region.”

McGowan’s move could pull the metro chamber tighter to the Reed administration as well as that of Republican Gov. Nathan Deal. Reed, a Democrat, and Deal enjoy a bipartisan partnership centered on economic development, and McGowan has experience working for both parties.

The chamber’s shift in direction comes as the region has become increasingly balkanized, other chambers of commerce have stepped up their game and local communities have become more engaged in economic development.

McGowan said the chamber’s mission is to get all metro communities to work together.

“Our mantra is going to be regional collaboration,” said McGowan, a former economic development adviser to former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

President Barack Obama also appointed him as a U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce, in which he served as the chief operating officer of the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

McGowan led the Atlanta Development Authority’s rebranding as Invest Atlanta and expanded its mission. The agency held trade missions and took on tasks as varied as oversight of tax allocation district-funded projects like the Atlanta Beltline and bond issuance for the new $1.2 billion stadium for the Atlanta Falcons.

The agency also notched big recruitment wins including homebuilder PulteGroup and Porsche.

“Brian’s leadership reinventing the Atlanta Development Authority into Invest Atlanta demonstrates the kind of creative thinking that MAC needs as we move into year two of our strategic plan,” Moddelmog said in a news release.

McGowan’s addition and a slate of promotions announced Thursday fills out Moddelmog’s administration. The COO role also positions McGowan, 45, as a possible successor to Moddelmog, 58.

Moddelmog replaced Williams, who retired after 17 years. Williams departed after a pair of bruising episodes for the business community: support of Atlanta Public Schools' leadership, despite a cheating scandal, and the failed campaign to pass a transportation sales tax in the metro area.

The chamber is currently seeking a new chief economic development officer. Hans Gant, a 15-year veteran who led efforts to market the region around the globe, also recently announced his departure.

The chamber on Thursday also announced promotions for senior executives Katie Kirkpatrick, Chuck Meadows, Dave Williams and Tanya Dunne.