Brian McGowan is the President of Centennial Yards - a CIM Group Company - building the most exciting sports, entertainment and business district in the country - in the heart of Atlanta. McGowan has over 20 years of economic development experience working at all levels of government. He was appointed by President Obama as U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce and also served as Economic Solutions Team lead in the National Incident Command activated by the President to respond to the BP Oil Spill. Prior to that, he was appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger to serve as Deputy Secretary of Commerce for the State of California. In Atlanta, he served as CEO of Invest Atlanta and CEO of the Atlanta Beltline. McGowan was also the Executive Vice President/COO of the Metro Atlanta Chamber and Principal with the global law firm Dentons. Additionally, Governor Deal appointed McGowan to the Board of the Fort McPherson Redevelopment Authority where he served for 5 years. He was also the founding CEO of Greater Seattle Partners which promoted and grew one of the most economically influential regions in the world. McGowan is a board member for the Atlanta Visitors and Convention Bureau, Central Atlanta Progress and the Fulton County Sheriff’s Foundation. He is also the immediate past Chair of the Center for Civic Innovation in Atlanta and is a Non-resident Fellow at the Brookings Institute and a former Fellow with the California Technology Council. McGowan has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg and other national and international publications. Additionally, Brian has a passion for global economic affairs. He served as Chair of the Georgia Foreign Trade Zone Inc. He also worked on a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) initiative that helped economies in Bulgaria and Serbia in their transition to free market; he represented the United States as co-chair of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Working Party on Global Rural Policy; and has led dozens of high-level trade missions around the world. Brian has a BA in Political Science from the University of California, Riverside and a MA in Politics, Economics and Business from the Claremont Graduate University where he was the Michael and Mary Johnston Fellow in American Politics. He is an avid mountain biker and fitness enthusiast.