An government from the Pacific Northwest with expansive worldwide financial expertise, together with in semiconductors, will lead San José’s Workplace of Financial Growth and Cultural Affairs, changing former Director Nanci Klein, who retired three months in the past.
Metropolis Supervisor Jennifer Maguire has introduced the number of Jen Baker, who most just lately served because the president and CEO of the Columbia River Financial Growth Council in Vancouver, Washington, to move the division at a important juncture with main sporting occasions coming to the area subsequent yr and the town seeking to bolster its place as a hub for synthetic intelligence.
Communications Director Carolina Camarena mentioned Baker was one among 65 candidates for the director’s place. Assistant Metropolis Supervisor Lee Wilcox had served because the performing director of the division in the course of the recruitment course of.
Baker will obtain an annual wage of $295,000 with roughly 5% non-pensionable pay, bringing her compensation to $309,750. Within the metropolis’s recruitment brochure, the wage vary for the place was marketed as between $204,437 and $341,149.
Baker started her profession as a commerce coverage skilled on the U.S. Division of Commerce, the place she negotiated bilateral and multilateral commerce agreements earlier than transferring on to function the commerce capability constructing director on the Workplace of the U.S. Commerce Consultant.
She additionally labored on the U.S. Small Enterprise Administration in Portland from 2011 to 2018, the place she rose by way of the ranks from financial improvement supervisor to performing director of the company. Throughout her tenure on the company, its lending portfolio elevated from $220 million to $609 million, representing a 275% rise.
Below her management on the Columbia River Financial Growth Council, Clark County added $1.69 billion and three,926 jobs from 2021 to 2024. She additionally was appointed as a member of the Washington State Commerce Division’s CHIPS and Science Act Working Group.
“Helping community members, industry, businesses, and individuals to optimize competitive advantages for a strong economy is what motivates me,” Baker mentioned in an announcement. “San José’s tech and small business ecosystems share strong parallels with my experience from the Pacific Northwest, and I am excited to meet City team members and peers to drive visibility and investment in the City of San José.”
Baker’s choice is one among a number of modifications to top-line administration on the metropolis on this calendar yr. Maguire named Aram Kouyoumjian director of the Human Sources Division and Workplace of Worker Relations, whereas appointing Jeff Provenzano as director of the Environmental Providers Division earlier this yr.
Extra just lately, Maguire additionally chosen Manuel Pineda, who beforehand served as Chief Electrical Utility Officer on the metropolis of Santa Clara, to function a deputy metropolis supervisor, with Kip Harkness vacating the place in March.
On the metropolis, Baker will oversee a division of 61 positions and an annual working funds of roughly $67 million.
Together with the area welcoming Tremendous Bowl LX, the NCAA Males’s Basketball Match and World Cup matches in 2026, which mixed might generate a whole lot of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in financial exercise, metropolis officers have focused a number of strategic initiatives within the funds to show San José right into a top-notch vacation spot for sports activities, leisure, buying, and enterprise creation.
These included planning efforts to create a future sports activities and leisure district in downtown, help for enterprise affiliation enlargement in industrial corridors and furthering the push for information middle funding.
“San José needs a strong economic development leader to help us realize our tremendous growth potential,” Mayor Matt Mahan mentioned in an announcement. “Jen Baker has the skills and experience to help San José attract new investment to make our Downtown Silicon Valley’s true urban center, build the housing we need for future generations, and grow the tax base to fund city services for all of our neighborhoods.”
Initially Printed: July 17, 2025 at 2:26 PM PDT
