UPDATE: Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s Office said in an email late Monday night that the nomination is for interim Commissioner of the Dept. of Business and Economic Affairs for 60 days. The agenda packet for the Executive Council’s Wednesday meeting doesn’t say interim.

By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org

CONCORD – James Key-Wallace, executive director at New Hampshire Business Finance Authority, is being nominated by Gov. Kelly Ayotte to become the interim commissioner for the state Department of Business and Economic Affairs.

She will formally nominate him as interim commissioner on Wednesday to replace temporarily Taylor Caswell who resigned.

Caroline Hakes, a spokesman for Ayotte, said in the meantime the governor continues a search for a fulltime replacement.

Key-Wallace is the second executive director at the New Hampshire Business Finance Authority and has gone before the Executive Council many times on behalf of the agency to ask for support for businesses seeking to get financing from the state for expanding their businesses.

He first began working for the BFA in November of 2016 and has been there for nine years.
Prior to that he was New Hampshire Community Loan Fund Senior Investor, Vested for Growth from January 2008 – Nov 2016  and prior to that vice president of the Monadnock Economic Development Corporation from 2006 – 2008, according to Linkedin.

At Southern New Hampshire University he earned a Masters of Science, Community Economic Development in 2007.

Caswell resigned after three of the five members of the state’s Executive Council indicated they would not be inclined to confirm his nomination by the governor for a third term.

The NH Business Finance Authority, where Key-Wallace has been its executive director, was created by the state in 1992 to help facilitate investment and expanded employment opportunity https://nhbfa.com/