McDonnell Announces Three Additional Cabinet Appointments
Appoints Jim Duffey as Secretary of Technology; Doug Domenech as Secretary of Natural Resources; Terrie Suit as Assistant to the Governor for Commonwealth Preparedness
RICHMOND- Virginia Governor-elect Bob McDonnell announced three additional appointments to his administration this morning in a press conference at the State Capitol.
McDonnell announced that Jim Duffey will serve as the Commonwealth’s next Secretary of Technology. Duffey worked for Electric Data Systems Corporation for 24 years, serving as Vice President and General Manager of U.S. Public Sector business, and is a former Vice-Chairman of the Northern Virginia Technology Council. McDonnell appointed Doug Domenech as Secretary of Natural Resources. Domenech served in a number of leadership roles in the United States Department of Interior, which manages nearly one-fifth of the land in the country, from 2001 to 2009. Domenech began his career in the forestry industry, later serving as a gubernatorial appointee to the Virginia Board of Forestry. Finally, McDonnell named former delegate Terrie Suit as Assistant to the Governor for Commonwealth Preparedness. While in the House of Delegates, Suit concentrated on business, housing and military issues. She serves on the Virginia Military Advisory Council.
McDonnell remarked about his Secretary-designate of Technology Jim Duffey, “Jim has worked around the globe at the highest levels in the information technology industry. During his time with Electronic Data Systems Corporation, Jim was based in Washington D.C., Rome, Spain, England and Australia. He has managed billion dollar budgets and thousands of employees. And he understands Virginia’s high tech community well through his recent leadership as Vice-Chairman of the Northern Virginia Technology Council. This broad experience has prepared Jim well for the position of Secretary of Technology. I am honored that Jim would agree to serve the citizens of Virginia in this capacity. With over 20 years of experience in the private sector Jim is a well-respected leader in his field and will be a positive addition to our Cabinet and Virginia state government.”
Speaking about his appointment of Doug Domenech as Secretary of Natural Resources, McDonnell said, “Doug has a long record of working to protect and promote the natural resources of our country and our Commonwealth. Doug graduated from Virginia Tech with a major in Forestry and Wildlife Management, went to work for the Forest Resources Association and eventually joined the U.S. Department of Interior where he rose to the number two staff position in the Secretary’s office. Doug brings a wealth of experience at both the state and national levels and joins with me in my commitment to preserving Virginia’s incredible natural beauty and resources, from the Shenandoah Valley to the Chesapeake Bay.”
McDonnell will keep the position of Assistant to the Governor for Commonwealth Preparedness as a Cabinet-level post, and noted about his appointment of Terrie Suit, “Terrie and I both represented Virginia Beach in the House of Delegates. During that time I witnessed Terrie’s leadership on matters directly affecting the safety and security of all Virginians, from military issues to providing better housing assistance for those in need to protecting victims of domestic violence. She served for nine years on the Virginia Military Advisory Council, carried legislation to provide in-state tuition for military members and dependents, and helped author legislation in response to the 2005 BRAC report. Terrie understands our security challenges not only as a former delegate, but also personally as a military wife of a Navy SEAL. She has great working relationships with military leaders across the state and understands the multiple threats from terrorism and natural disasters that face Virginia. I am delighted Terrie is willing to return to public service to work on behalf of the people of Virginia in our administration.”
Below are full biographies of today’s appointees.
Further announcements regarding additional appointments in the McDonnell Administration will continue to be made in the weeks ahead.
James (Jim) D. Duffey, Jr.
James D. Duffey, Jr. is President & CEO of Duff Consulting. Prior to starting his own consulting firm, Mr. Duffey spent 24 years at Electronic Data Systems Corporation (EDS) from 1983 to 2007, where he held many different positions in the U.S. and Europe. He was vice president and general manager of Global Supply Chain Management, where he managed a spending budget of $9 billion and was responsible for all of EDS’ interaction with third party vendors and suppliers. He was also vice president and general manager, public sector, for three years, responsible for all of EDS’ state and local, federal, civilian, military and Medicare client relationships. With over 6,000 employees, Mr. Duffey managed 15 direct reports and a P&L of $2 billion.
Mr. Duffey also spent 12 years in Europe leading the EDS Iberian and Italian strategic business units (SBUs). He oversaw a tenfold increase in revenue growth for the Iberian SBU and grew the Italian SBU into EDS’ second largest European business unit. Mr. Duffey is fluent in Spanish, and he presided over the signing of Petrogal, Portugal’s largest outsourcing contract. Prior to the establishment of separate business units, he served as country manager for Spain and Portugal for two years. Additionally, Mr. Duffey was responsible for the Iberian business unit that signed the first third party outsourcing contract in the Spanish insurance industry. Mr. Duffey’s team also designed, implemented, and operated the results system for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. He founded one of EDS’ primary disaster recovery sites for EMEA, and finalized the largest outsourcing contract in the history of the Italian banking industry in 1998. From 2007 to 2008, Mr. Duffey was vice president and general manager, public sector, at Dell, Inc. In this capacity, Mr. Duffey was responsible for all hardware sales in Dell’s public sector, which included all sales in the federal, state and local, education and healthcare markets in the U.S. and Canada. The public sector had some 1,000 employees and generated approximately $10 billion in revenue.
Mr. Duffey has been very active in the Northern Virginia business and technology community. He served as Vice Chair of the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) from 2006 to 2009 and is presently an NVTC Board member. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the George Mason University Foundation and the Executive Committee of the Kidney Foundation. He previously served on the Board of Directors of the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, AFCEA International, ITAA-Public Sector (TechAmerica), and the Hoop Dreams Scholarship fund. In 2008, Mr. Duffey was chairman of the Kidney Ball Executive Committee.
Mr. Duffey earned his Juris Doctor degree at New England School of Law, Boston, Mass., after attending the University of Virginia, where he received a bachelor’s degree in political science.
Terrie L. Suit
The Honorable Terrie Suit spent nearly a decade representing the citizens of Virginia Beach and Chesapeake as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. During her time in office she chaired both the General Laws Committee and the Virginia Housing Commission and served on the Commerce and Labor, Counties Cities and Towns, Education and Agriculture Committees. Ms. Suit’s assignments dealt with a wide range of business issues as well as concentrations in housing issues and military relations. Prior to serving in the General Assembly, Ms. Suit served for three years as a gubernatorial appointee to the Virginia Real Estate Board.
Ms. Suit is currently Government Affairs Director at Williams Mullen. As Government Affairs Director, Ms. Suit provides a range of government relations services to clients. She focuses her practice on helping companies and associations navigate the federal and state legislative and agency process, as well as advising businesses on relocation and expansion opportunities within Virginia.
Ms. Suit is an active community leader. She sits on the executive committee of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce and was the 2006 and 2007 chair of the Chamber’s Lead Hampton Roads Board of Trustees. Ms. Suit also serves on the Virginia Beach Contemporary Art Center Board of Trustees and is a former board member of Old Dominion University’s Alumni Association. She has received numerous awards including the Virginia Housing Coalition’s “Housing Leaders” in 2006, the Hampton Roads Outstanding Professional Women in Public Service Award in 2005, and the YWCA’s Women of Distinction Award in 2004.
Ms. Suit graduated from Old Dominion University with a bachelor’s degree in political science. Ms. Suit worked as a mortgage loan officer prior to and simultaneous with her tenure in the House of Delegates. Her husband, Tom, is a former United States Navy SEAL.
Douglas W. Domenech
Doug Domenech was appointed to the U.S. Department of Interior in July 2001 as Deputy Director of External and Intergovernmental Affairs. He then served from November 2001-2005 as White House Liaison to the Interior Department where he was responsible for appointments to 140 federal boards and commissions as well as communications with White House and Cabinet personnel. From 2005-2009 he served as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the Interior where he was the number two staff position in the Office of the Secretary. In this position he worked with senior managers for all nine Interior Bureaus, had senior oversight of the US/UNESCO World Heritage Program administered by the United Nations, and oversaw the Interior Crisis Action Team.
Mr. Domenech most recently served as the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Insular Affairs where he managed U.S. relations with seven insular areas including US Territories of the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and US Freely Associated States of Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands. Policy issues addressed in this role included energy, security, economic development and health.
Prior to serving at the U.S. Department of the Interior, Mr. Domenech had a long career in forestry. Upon graduating from college he became the Acting Director of the Timber Harvesting Management Program at Alabama A&M University where he managed research funded by the USDA Forest Service and Tennessee Valley Authority. In 1981 he went to work for the Forest Resources Association, a national technical trade association which represents produces and consumers of raw wood material. He began as the Southwestern Division Forester in Jackson, MS, and then moved to become the Southeastern Division Forester in Charleston, SC. He later became the Director of Forestry Programs at the FRA’s headquarters in Washington, DC from 1990-1993.
After leaving FRA, Domenech became the Executive Director of the National Center for Home Education, a non-profit education and research organization with offices in Washington, DC and Purcellville, VA. He also served as Executive Director of the Madison Project.
Currently Mr. Domenech is the Senior Vice President of Artemis Strategies, a bipartisan government relations and strategic communications firm. He is responsible for client recruitment and deals with issues in energy, technology, and financial management. He is also a principal at Chrysalis Energy Partners, a green energy consulting firm focused on onshore and offshore renewable sources including biomass, wind and solar.
Mr. Domenech was appointed by Governor George Allen to the Goose Creek Scenic River Advisory Board and the Commonwealth Competition Council. Under Governor Jim Gilmore he was appointed to the Virginia Board of Forestry. He also formerly served on the Advisory Council of the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico.
He received his Bachelors of Science in Forestry and Wildlife Management and Industrial Forest Engineering Operations from Virginia Tech in 1978. He moved to Virginia from Puerto Rico in 1972. Doug and his wife Jeanne have four children.