BREAKING NEWS

Youngkin names Caren Merrick as commerce and trade secretary

Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin on Tuesday tapped Caren Merrick, who works in venture capital and led Youngkin's nonprofit focused on workforce training during the pandemic, to serve as Virginia's next commerce and trade secretary.

BY MEL LEONOR Richmond Times-Dispatch | 38 min ago

Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin on Tuesday tapped Caren Merrick, who works in venture capital and led Youngkin's nonprofit focused on workforce training during the pandemic, to serve as Virginia's next commerce and trade secretary.

Merrick is the CEO of the Virginia Ready Initiative, which Youngkin co-founded in June 2020 to help out-of-work Virginians get credentials to work in high-demand fields. The initiative is a partnership between 20 large companies and the state's community college system.

"Virginia’s jobs machine has stalled out, and Caren is going to play a pivotal role on the team that will jumpstart our economy and reinvigorate job growth here in the Commonwealth,” Youngkin said in a statement.

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Virginia's unemployment rate dropped to 3.4% in November, below the national rate of 4.2%.

Merrick, a wealthy entrepreneur, ran unsuccessfully for the Virginia Senate in 2011, losing in a reliably Democratic, suburban Washington district to Barbara Favola, a former Arlington County supervisor who has been a member of the General Assembly ever since. During that campaign, Merrick depicted herself as a job creator, claiming she’d put hundreds of people to work.

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mleonor@timesdispatch.com

(804) 649-6254

Twitter: @MelLeonor_