Tim Sullivan will be named as the choice to head the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, two sources with knowledge of the selection told ROI-NJ on Sunday afternoon.
Sullivan currently is the deputy commissioner at the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development.
The sources, who are not authorized to speak on the selection, said the announcement is expected as soon as Monday morning.
The job does not require confirmation by the state Senate, but does require the approval of the EDA board, which is expected.
If confirmed, Sullivan is expected to be on the job by mid-February.
Sullivan has long ties to economic development in the tri-state area.
Prior to joining the Connecticut DECD in 2014, he served as chief of staff to the New York City deputy mayor for economic development during Gov. Michael Bloomberg’s administration from 2010-13.
“Bloomberg loves him,” said one of the sources.
And, despite having worked most recently in Connecticut and New York City, Sullivan is considered a “Jersey guy” who wants to come home. He was born and raised in New Jersey. He graduated from Georgetown University.
One source also said his experience in New York and Connecticut was considered a plus, since those are areas New Jersey frequently competes against.
Another source said the selection is another signal that Gov. Phil Murphy is determined to change the way New Jersey does business.
“It shows the governor wants to look at economic development in a different way, with a new voice and a new vision,” the source said.
According to the DECD website, Sullivan joined the organization in January 2014 and became deputy commissioner in January 2015. He is charged with overseeing several components of Gov. Dannel Malloy’s economic development strategy, including tourism, brownfield redevelopment, transit-oriented development and waterfront initiatives.
Sullivan also manages the state’s “still revolutionary” marketing and branding effort.
In the Bloomberg administration, Sullivan focused on transportation and transit-oriented development; brownfield redevelopment; waterfront and maritime/port redevelopment (serving as the citywide waterfront policy coordinator); public and affordable housing policy; small business support; infrastructure finance; and public/private partnerships.
Sullivan, the DECD site said, played a critical role in several noteworthy initiatives of the Bloomberg administration, including the engineering and applied science campus being developed by Cornell University on Roosevelt Island, major brownfield/waterfront development projects in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, the restructuring of the New York City Housing Authority, implementation and expansion of the East River Ferry, efforts to expand the #7 subway line to New Jersey, and the Citi Bike bike-sharing program.
Prior to joining city government in 2010, Sullivan worked at Barclays Capital in New York as chief of staff to the head of global investment banking, a position he also held at Lehman Bros. prior to its acquisition by Barclays in 2008.
Sullivan began his career in investment banking at Lehman Bros. in 2003 as a health care banker, focusing on mergers and acquisitions and capital markets transactions for leading companies in the managed care, biotechnology and health care services sectors.
