Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera. State House News Service Photo / File
Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera, a Democrat and ally of Gov. Charlie Baker’s, was approved Thursday to become the next CEO of MassDevelopment, according to a statement released by the agency.
Baker’s choice of Rivera to lead the quasi-public economic development agency, which helps finance housing, cultural and business development around the state, comes as the mayor is entering the last year of his second four-year term as mayor of Lawrence.
Lawrence is one of the most diverse cities in the state, and as mayor Rivera oversaw the development of 1.5 million square feet of commercial and residential real estate, including siting the first Starbucks coffee shop in the city.
“Dan Rivera will bring dedicated leadership experience, compassion and a steadfast commitment to economic recovery and growth for Massachusetts’ cities and towns in his new role at MassDevelopment,” Baker said in a statement. “In his role as mayor for the city of Lawrence, Dan met every challenge and seized every opportunity to support his residents and create a stronger economy – including more jobs and housing. I’m confident he will work tirelessly in his new role to support economic growth statewide for all the residents in Massachusetts.”
Despite being a Democrat, Rivera has been a close political ally of Baker’s, crossing party lines in 2018 to endorse the governor’s reelection bid and more recently serving on Baker’s COVID-19 reopening task force, helping to develop the guidelines in the spring for reopening the economy from its pandemic shutdown.
One of the harder hit communities by the pandemic, Lawrence has a high population of immigrants who have been shown to be disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
Rivera succeeds Lauren Liss as president and CEO of the agency.
Rivera did not immediately respond to a text and a voice message left on his cellphone Wednesday night after news of his impending nomination leaked.
Liss announced in October that she would be stepping down at the end of the year after three years at the helm.
As mayor, MassDevelopment was one of the state agencies Rivera worked with to complete 13 different infrastructure projects totaling $21.5 million in investment.
He also helped redevelop two closed Showcase Cinema sites located off Route 495 and four mill conversions, according to the city’s website, and Lawrence expects the last of more than 1,900 new units of housing to open by the end of 2020.
Updated 11:29 a.m., Dec. 10, 2020: This story has been updated to reflect the vote by MassDevelopment’s board to accept Rivera’s nomination.
