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Commerce Secretary Raimondo to Keynote AIM Annual Meeting

Posted on April 27, 2021

US Commerce Secretary and former Rhode Island Governor Gina M. Raimondo will keynote the 2021 Associated Industries of Massachusetts annual meeting on May 14, the statewide business association announced this morning.

The nation’s top economic policymaker is expected to discuss the Biden Administration’s efforts to stimulate the US economy and lay the groundwork for building the economy of tomorrow. Those efforts include a $2 trillion plan that is aimed at creating millions of jobs while simultaneously rebuilding the country’s infrastructure.

Secretary Raimondo has said that her mission is “to spur good-paying jobs, empower entrepreneurs to innovate and grow, and help American workers and businesses compete.”

More than 600 business leaders from throughout Massachusetts are expected to attend the virtual AIM Annual Meeting, which begins at 10:30 am. The event will also include presentation of the AIM Vision Award, the Gould Education Award and the inaugural Lewis Latimer award.

“No one is better qualified than Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to address the theme of our AIM Annual Meeting, The Road to Recovery: Re-Building a Better Massachusetts for Everyone,” said John Regan, President and Chief Executive Officer of AIM.

“From her time as state treasurer and governor of Rhode Island and now in her new role, Secretary Raimondo has a unique sense of how government and business can work together to forge a recovery that will bring millions of Americans back to work.”

Gina Raimondo was sworn in as the 40th U.S. Secretary of Commerce on March 3. The former venture capitalist served as Rhode Island governor from 2015 until this year, building a list of economic accomplishments that included reducing taxes every year, removing 8,000 pages of regulations, raising the state minimum wage to $11.50 and financing the largest infrastructure program in the state’s history.

She served as the vice chair of the Democratic Governors Association in 2018 and chaired the organization in 2019.

Secretary Raimondo began her career as senior vice president for fund development at the Manhattan offices of Village Ventures, a venture capital firm based in Williamstown and backed by Bain Capital and Highland Capital Groups. She returned to Rhode Island in 2000 to co-found the state’s first venture capital firm, Point Judith Capital where she served as a general partner covering health care investments; she retains some executive duties with the firm

Secretary Raimondo graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard College before earning Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees as a Rhodes Scholar at New College, Oxford. She received her law degree from Yale Law School.

Register to Attend the 2021 AIM Annual Meeting