Yvonne Hao is the new Massachusetts Secretary of Economic Development. Appointed by Governor Maura Healey and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll earlier this month, Hao is the first woman and first person of color to hold the role. As a Williams College graduate and Williamstown homeowner, she’s the only high ranking member of the new administration so far with Berkshire County roots. Hao enters the position after over 25 years in the private sector with investment firms like Cove Hill Partners and Pillar Ventures. In her first interview since her appointment, Hao spoke with WAMC during Healey’s visit to North Adams Thursday.
HAO: This is my happy place. So, I was very lucky to get into Williams College, and this was my first experience with the state, was coming out here. I graduated 1995. And just the moment I stepped foot on campus and saw the mountains- You know, you breathe the air, you just, it's a whole different experience. And so, I've been really lucky. Since graduating, I was on the board for 12 years, and then we now actually have a house out here. And so, I'm out here as much as I can get here. And then in the process of getting to know the area more, we spent a lot of time in North Adams, down in the Southern Berkshires, and then also all along Route 2 and all along the pike. So, all these little towns have become our pitstops, and it's been really, really, really fun to get to know all of these communities.
WAMC: So, knowing the Berkshires and Western Mass as you do, what are some things you want to bring to the table in the Cabinet in this new administration about the region?
You know, it's interesting, I would say that- Well, first of all, I'm on day three, so I still have a lot to learn. But when I think about economic development, usually when I talk to people, they naturally gravitate towards Boston- Of course, we're so lucky to have Boston and it is thriving in so many ways, although obviously, we still always have more work to do. But there's a whole rest of the state out here, and it's actually not that far to get out here. What I've loved about what's happened here in the last many years in North Adams, Williamstown, this whole sector, and actually even going down south, is the leveraging of the arts to kind of revitalize this. And so, we have all these older buildings, we have towns that used to be industrial kind of centers, but now with all the arts coming in, it's a whole new different type of economy, different folks moving in, blending with people who are here, restaurants, hotels, festivals- you know, spaces like [Greylock Works] that are mixed-space. So, I think there's just so much momentum here. And so, I was just saying to the [North Adams Mayor Jennifer Macksey] is that, now's not the time to kind of just hang out. We have so much momentum and critical mass, now's the time in my new role to really understand, what do we need now to supercharge this? So, how can we take this to the next level, to get this whole region to be even more vibrant? So, that's kind of on my mind. It’s something I care deeply about.
Can you tell us a little bit about your experience in the realm of economic development that prepares you for this role?
Well, first of all, I was an economics major at Williams College. And then I actually won a scholarship to Cambridge University in to study development economics. And then, since then, most of my career has actually been in business. So really, actually working with large companies, startups, all kinds of small businesses, and then also with investment firms, thinking through, how do you help companies grow and thrive. And so hopefully I can leverage some of that experience and combine that with some my academic theory on economic development, and really leverage all the great people we have in the state to get ideas and to prioritize and to really go off and do something here.
If you were to offer a snapshot of some of your economic theories or ideas, what would that look like?
It's early days. I would say, in general, we are in a really good spot. Because when you look at economic development, a lot of times what people are looking for is, do you have intellectual capital and human capital? We are so blessed in this state, we have so many colleges and universities around the state. So, we have so much talent already- Young people, professors, all kinds of research. So, we have that as a starting point. The other thing that you look for is, do you have a culture of innovation and the conditions to allow the economy to thrive? We have that in spades, we have all kinds of energy, we have all kinds of companies, all kinds of patents over the many years. So, we have a history of innovation. And then we have some other really great things. We have a thriving biotech sector, we have a lot of tech investments, we have the arts out here. And so, we have a good foundation that a lot of other places would be desperate to have, and those are the important ingredients for economic development. But now the question is, how can we put all those together across different communities, whether it's the business community, the investment community, towns, chambers, mayors, nonprofits, academia, medical schools, and then also the government. So, what can we do as our state to kind of put all these pieces together to kind of take it to that next level? So, but I think it's hard for anyone to go economic development without some of those key ingredients, and we're lucky, we have a lot of that. So now we just need to build on that and strengthen that and get us an even stronger commonwealth economy. For economic development come to work, you need both sides of the market, you need to have employers and you need to have employees. And so, as we think about, as I think about my role going forward and the role the state can play, we want to think about both those sides. So how can we make this a great place where companies want to stay here and grow here, and companies also want to come here? And then on the other side for the employees, how can we make this a great place to live where people want to come stay and grow their families and really build their lives here in Massachusetts? So, we need both sides of that coin, and I think our office going to be thinking about both of those.
At the North Adams event Thursday, WAMC asked Healey if she would stand by her commitment to appoint more Western Massachusetts representatives to her administration.
“We are continuing to look at that we're continuing to certainly expect there to be absolutely," said the governor. "And you know, that work continues. We'll make announcements as soon as we're ready. We're working through Cabinet Secretaries and a few other positions. But obviously, there are a lot of critical, important positions to fill. And we're both committed to making sure we have representation from Western Massachusetts.”
