Q & A: New DEED leader talks budget, workforce
April 1, 2019
Minnesota’s new economic point person is bringing a tech executive’s love for innovation to the role.
Northfield native Steve Grove, commissioner of the Department of Employment and Economic Development, has spent the past 12 years as a senior leader at YouTube and Google, most recently leading a team focused on innovations in journalism. A Minnesota native, he moved back to the state in April 2018 with his wife, Mary, a San Diego native (“This is definitely her first Minnesota winter,” Grove says) and 2-year-old twins.
He wasn’t initially looking for a government job, he says, but after Gov. Tim Walz won in November’s election, Grove met with the transition team and eventually was named to his new role.