Montgomery County taps Nevada economic development veteran as new MCEDC chief
Montgomery County has found its next economic development chief more than 10 months after the previous leader gave his notice.
The Montgomery County Economic Development Corp. said Tuesday it has tapped seasoned economic development executive Jared Smith as its president and CEO, effective Dec. 8.
He succeeds Bill Tompkins, who submitted his resignation in January and exited the role in August after a three-year stint. The MCEDC never named an interim CEO.
Smith brings more than two decades of experience in business and economic development roles and is currently the director of economic development and tourism for the city of Henderson in Nevada’s Las Vegas–metro area. His appointment ends a lengthy search led by Korn Ferry.
“Jared’s extensive experience in economic development and his ability to bring partners together across sectors make him exactly the leader we need right now,” MCEDC Board Chair Elana Fine said in a statement, calling this “a defining moment” for the county’s economic future.
Smith has been head of economic development in Henderson since August 2022. He spearheaded the city’s economic vitality strategy, produced an analysis of the city’s workforce development needs, won a grant from the Economic Development Administration to develop an AI tool to track competitiveness across industries, and launched a small business assistance program, according to his bio.
Before that, Smith spent about six years as chief operating officer for the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance, the economic development agency for Clark County, Nevada, and was previously director of business development for the Baton Rouge Area Chamber in Louisiana.
He is currently chair of the International Economic Development Council’s national committee on the future of the economic development profession. He earned his bachelor’s in English from Louisiana State University and MBA from Southeastern Louisiana University.
Smith would be the MCEDC’s fourth CEO since the organization was created in 2016. Tompkins had the job for about three years, following Ben Wu and David Petr, the organization’s first-ever chief.
He takes the helm about a year before Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich’s term runs out. Elrich’s office and the MCEDC have had their share of friction in the past: Elrich has pushed the agency to move more aggressively and has said its economic development efforts did not stack up against Northern Virginia’s.
Tompkins often chafed at that characterization. In an interview last month, he said the MCEDC’s top job is challenging because it requires balancing the sometimes-competing agendas of the county executive, the county council and a business community that tends to be “skeptical about the degree to which the county is investing in the business interests long term.”
Smith takes the reins in a difficult moment for Montgomery County, which has established its identity globally around life sciences and biotech but has had some big-name companies recently leave the market. The county is also dealing with a historically high supply of vacant lab space and contending with the loss of thousands of jobs at the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration stemming from the Trump administration’s federal spending cuts.
Smith said in a statement that he sees talent as the “key driver of economic competitiveness,” and that he is looking forward “to building on MCEDC’s strong foundation to attract investment and expand opportunity across the county.”
He plans to relocate to the D.C. region early next year, according to the MCEDC.
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