Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, members of the Hogan administration are moving to new jobs, Annapolis lobbying shops are beefing up, and state associations are electing new leadership. Here are three items of note:
— Mathew Palmer, who had been the deputy legislative officer for Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R), is moving within the administration to become chief operating officer at the Maryland Department of Commerce.
This is not Palmer’s first job in the business realm. He spent three-plus years as senior vice president for government affairs at the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, and was associate state director for Johns Hopkins University. He also served as chief of staff to then-state Sen. E.J. Pipkin (R).
— Bellamy Genn Group, LLC, an Annapolis lobbying shop, added Rylie Shewbridge to its roster as a government relations associate. Shewbridge worked most recently as legislative director for state Sen. William C. Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery) and has worked for Sen. Paul G. Pinsky (D-Prince George’s). She has also been an executive assistant to the executive director at the Maryland Municipal League.
— The Maryland Bankers Association announced this week that Robert E. “BJ” Goetz Jr., president and CEO of Middletown Valley Bank, was elected the association’s 2020-2021 chairman at MBA’s annual meeting on Tuesday. Goetz will be presiding over the organization as it gears up to celebrate its 125th anniversary next year.
Before joining Middletown Valley Bank in 2012, Goetz was a commercial banking executive with Susquehana Bank. He also serves as vice chairman of the board of Millennium Financial Group, Inc. He is the development council chair and a director of the Meritus Medical Center in Hagerstown, and is a member of the Washington County Planning Commission.