PROVIDENCE – Hilary Fagan, president and chief operating officer of R.I. Commerce Corp., will leave the agency on Dec. 2.
Fagan, who succeeded Jesse Saglio on March 5, plans to move into consulting with a focus on energy. Saglio left the agency to return to the private sector.
Bill Ash will serve as the agency’s interim president, a Commerce spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday.
Fagan previously served as executive vice president of business development since joining the agency in 2016. She built a team, developed and executed a business-development strategy for the state across targeted sectors for business growth, including bioscience and the so-called “blue” economy.
Before joining R.I. Commerce, Fagan was a director in the corporate client group with NASDAQ in Washington, D.C. She also was a research sales associate at Morgan Stanley in New York.
In a statement, Commerce Secretary Elizabeth M. Tanner thanked Fagan for her contributions to the agency.
“Her efforts to showcase R.I. as an attractive place to set up shop, expand and thrive were essential to advancing our mission,” Tanner said. “We wish her the best in her future endeavors and look forward to seeing what she’ll accomplish next.”
Good decision by Hilary. Best of luck to Bill Ash. They should just make Bill permanent president.