Former Amesbury Mayor Thatcher Kezer will join MassDevelopment beginning March 2 to serve as senior vice president of Devens.
In the role, Kezer will serve as the lead staff person of MassDevelopment in Devens with oversight of its departments of public safety, public works, recreation and utilities.
"Thanks to his time with the UMass-Boston Collins Center, Amesbury, Beverly, the Massachusetts Municipal Association and the commonwealth, Thatcher Kezer will bring a wealth of experience and expertise to Devens," MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones said in a statement. "I am confident that Kezer’s acumen will help Devens continue to grow as a vibrant community, and that residents of Devens and the Nashoba Valley will find him savvy and personable."
Kezer has worked since July as an associate at the Edward J. Collins Center for Public Management at the University of Massachusetts at Boston to help municipalities throughout the commonwealth become more efficient and effective. As mayor of Amesbury for eight years, Kezer won the Kenneth E. Pickard Municipal Innovation Award for the development of AmesStat, a performance-management system. A lieutenant colonel in the Massachusetts Air National Guard, Kezer chairs the Community and Municipal Support Committee of the Massachusetts Military Asset and Security Strategy Task Force; MassDevelopment has helped to staff the task force.
"I am excited to join the MassDevelopment team and help to make Devens an even better place for residents and businesses," Kezer said in a statement. "I look forward to getting to know the people of Devens and its neighboring communities."
