Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam has named his former higher education advisor Randy Boyd the new commissioner of economic development.
“Randy understands the importance of making sure that the business community and educators are working hand in hand to meet our workforce needs,” said Haslam. “More than ever, offering an educated and highly trained workforce is part of attracting new business to our state and encouraging existing businesses to expand here. Randy’s experience and success in the private sector as well as his engagement in the education community make him a perfect fit to continue our focus on being the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high quality jobs.”
Boyd is the founder and CEO of Knoxville-based Radio Systems Corporation. In 2009, he co-founded tnAchieves, a nonprofit scholarship organization paying community college tuition for more than 10,000 high school graduates that later became a model for Haslam’s free tuition program. In 2013, Boyd become an unpaid higher education advisor and helped developed the governor’s “Drive to 55” campaign to improve college graduation rates from 32 percent to 55 percent by 2025.
Boyd succeeds Bill Hagerty, who announced he was stepping down last month to return to the private sector.
