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Kasich appoints friend to oversee privatization
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
Gov.-elect John Kasich has appointed a longtime friend and Silicon Valley venture capitalist to oversee the privatization of the Ohio Department of Development.
Mark Kvamme, a partner in the California-based private equity firm Sequoia Capital, will spend about six months reviewing the state agency as part of a transition to Kasich’s Jobs-Ohio group, a nonprofit that the governor-elect envisions handling the state’s economic-development duties.
“Mark has been a friend of mine, and he has been involved … [in] my private life and business,” Kasich said Friday in announcing his selection during a press conference before an Ohio State University business class. “And also, at all times, he and I have spent a lot of time talking together about public policy and the way to do things.”
Kasich said he has known Kvamme since his days in Congress. Kvamme also has donated thousands of dollars to Kasich and Ohio Republicans — he and his wife gave more than $44,000 to the governor-elect’s election campaign, according to disclosures filed with the Secretary of State.
Kvamme has been a partner at Sequoia Capital for more than a decade; the firm was an early investor in many high-profile Internet businesses, including YouTube, Google, PayPal and Cisco Systems.
“Mark is the definition of an entrepreneur,” Kasich said. “He started one of the first online advertising companies. He had 10 people working for him, and at the end of the day, he went public.”
Kasich unveiled his Jobs-Ohio proposal last summer, calling for the Ohio Department of Development to be replaced by a 12-member board of directors that would be appointed by the governor. Existing programs operated by the state agency not related to economic development would be transferred to other offices.
The new nonprofit would be responsible for reaching out to existing companies and firms thinking about expanding into Ohio, negotiating economic incentive packages and helping to commercialize research and technologies developed at the state’s universities.
The group would receive state funding and would accept donations from private businesses and citizens.
In his new position, Kvamme will review Department of Development programs to determine which ones should be shifted to the new nonprofit. He estimated that about 60 of the 400 employees at the state agency are involved in economic development.
“What we really want to do is to focus on the job creation and granting programs and things like that that help companies come to Ohio and so on,” Kvamme said.
He will be paid a salary of $1 and could join the board of the resulting nonprofit, said Rob Nichols, Kasich’s spokesman.
Kvamme said he will take a leave from Sequoia during his work in Ohio. He will maintain his family residence in California but stay in Ohio during the week while he works on the Department of Development transition.