Tennessee Governor-elect Bill Lee announces appointments for six departments
Tennessee Governor-elect Bill Lee announced six appointments to his cabinet for the Department of Children’s Services, the Department of Corrections, the Department of Economic and Community Development, the Department of Labor & Workforce Development, the Department of Revenue and the Division of TennCare.
“The six individuals joining our cabinet represent each of our Grand Divisions and bring vast experience in their respective areas,” said Lee. “I am excited to work with this group and look forward to building solutions for our state.”
The Governor-elect named the following appointments today:
- Jennifer Nichols – Department of Children’s Services
- Tony Parker – Department of Corrections
- Bob Rolfe – Department of Economic and Community Development
- Dr. Jeff McCord – Department of Labor & Workforce Development
- David Gerregano – Department of Revenue
- Gabe Roberts – Division of TennCare
Jennifer Nichols, of Shelby County, currently serves as the chief homicide prosecutor in the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office. Previously, Nichols served the Criminal Court Judge of Division 10 in the 30th Judicial District. In addition to her service as the Shelby County Deputy District Attorney, Nichols served as the Chief Prosecutor of the Special Victims Unit where she handled child homicides, child physical abuse, child sexual abuse, elder abuse and other special projects. In her capacity as Chief Prosecutor over the Special Victims Unit, Nichols met daily and worked closely with Department of Children’s Services staff.
Tony Parker, of Obion County, currently serves as the Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Corrections. With more than 35 years of experience in the field of corrections, Parker previously served as the Assistant Commissioner of Prisons where he was responsible for the oversight of the department’s security operations as well as offender management. He is nationally recognized for his research regarding de-radicalization of prisons and was recently elected President-elect of the American Correctional Association.
Bob Rolfe, of Davidson County, currently serves as the Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. During his tenure at ECD, Rolfe worked to land the Amazon expansion, a $230 million investment to Tennessee that is slated to create 5,000 jobs and is considered the single-largest jobs announcement in Tennessee history. He is the former Chairman and CEO of Medical Reimbursements of America, Inc. and the co-founder of West End Holdings. From 2005 to 2011, he was Chairman and CEO of MyOfficeProducts, Inc. Rolfe spent the first 18 years of his career as an investment banker at J.C. Bradford and Co.
Dr. Jeff McCord, of Sullivan County, currently serves as the Vice President for Economic and Workforce Development at Northeast State Community College. McCord leads Workforce Solutions, a workforce development program that includes the development of registered apprenticeship programs and the Regional Center for Advanced Manufacturing (RCAM), a technical career academy. In addition to organizational leadership for the Adult Education programming for the First Development District, he also serves as the lead administrator for the nationally recognized Kingsport Academic Village. McCord has over 20 years of business and industry experience including a number of leadership positions and specific experience related to organizational effectiveness and corporate education.
David Gerregano, of Jackson County, currently serves as the Commissioner of the Department of Revenue. A 20-year veteran of the department, Gerregano has helped oversee various revenue functions, including the Audit Division, Enforcement and Taxpayer Services. Since starting with the department in 1997 as tax counsel, he has held multiple legal and legislative positions such as administrative hearing officer, general counsel and assistant commissioner. Gerregano currently serves on the Federation of Tax Administrators Board of Trustees and previously served as president of the Southeastern Association of Tax Administrators.
Gabe Roberts, of Davidson County, currently serves as the Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of TennCare. Previously, he served as General Counsel. During his tenure at TennCare, Roberts was instrumental in the design and implementation of many of the agency’s initiatives including the Tennessee Health Care Innovation Initiative, the Employment and Community First Choices program, and the agency’s strategy to combat the opiate epidemic in Tennessee. Before joining TennCare, he practiced law at the Nashville law firm Sherrard, Roe, Voigt & Harbison where his focus was corporate and business law.
On November 7, the transition unveiled a new website – transition.billlee.com. The site includes detailed information about the Governor-elect’s policy priorities, a section where Tennesseans can submit their resumes to potentially join his team, and most importantly, a section where Tennesseans can share their ideas with the Governor-elect and his team.
Since launching the site, the Lee Transition Team has received information from over 1,400 applicants who are interested in serving in the administration and more than 2,400 ideas for bettering state government.
Source: Governor-Elect Lee Transition Office
The East Tennessee Economic Development Agency markets and recruits business for the 15 counties in the greater Knoxville-Oak Ridge region of East Tennessee. Visit www.eteda.org
Published January 4, 2019