Maurice Jones, secretary of commerce and trade for the State of Virginia, will speak at Shenandoah University’s Harry F. Byrd, Jr. School of Business at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 18, in Halpin-Harrison Hall, Stimpson Auditorium on the campus of Shenandoah University. The event is free and open to the public. Jones’ presentation is part of the business school’s Entrepreneurship Week, which runs from Monday, Nov. 17, through Sunday, Nov. 23.
“As the person who oversees economic development across the Commonwealth of Virginia, it was a no brainer for us to extend an invitation to Maurice Jones to headline our Entrepreneurship Week and serve as part of our Distinguished Lecture Series,” said Dean of the Harry F. Byrd, Jr. School of Business Miles Davis, Ph.D. “Entrepreneurial behavior is the economic engine of our economy, and the entrepreneurship program at the Harry F. Byrd, Jr. School of Business is honored to sponsor this discussion about economic development and growth.”
According to his biography on the State of Virginia website, Maurice Jones was appointed secretary of commerce and trade by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe in January 2014. Previously, Jones served as deputy secretary for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from April 2012 through January 2014. As the second most senior official at HUD, Jones managed the department’s day-to-day operations, the annual operating budget, and the agency’s 8,900 employees.
Prior to HUD, Jones was president of Pilot Media, the largest print and digital organization in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Jones joined Landmark Media Enterprises, owner of Pilot Media, in 2005, serving as vice president of the Landmark Publishing Group, consisting of multiple newspapers, including the News & Record in Greensboro, North Carolina; The Roanoke Times; The Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland; and Landmark Community Newspapers, Inc., based in Shelbyville, Kentucky. In 2006, Jones became the vice president and general manager of Pilot Media, and in 2008 he became president and publisher of The Virginian-Pilot, the locally owned and managed newspaper founded in 1865.
A Kenbridge, Virginia, native, Jones also served as commissioner of the Virginia Department of Social Services and deputy chief of staff to then-Virginia Governor Mark Warner. At the U.S. Treasury Department, Jones was special assistant to the General Counsel and he also served as legal counsel to the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund and as director of the fund during the Clinton Administration. Jones also worked for the law firm of Hunton & Williams in Richmond, Virginia, and he was a partner at Venture Philanthropy Partners, a firm that invests millions in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area to assist low-income children.
Jones received a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Hampden-Sydney College in Farmville, Virginia, and attended Oxford University in England on a Rhodes scholarship, where he received a Master of Philosophy in International Relations. He later received a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia.
A 5 p.m. reception precedes the 5:30 p.m. presentation. The event is hosted by The Harry F. Byrd, Jr. School of Business Distinguished Lecture Series. For more information, contact Harry F. Byrd, Jr. School of Business Administrative Assistant Donna Fazio at 540/665-4572 or dfazio@su.edu.
