The art of negotiation is a daily exercise in the halls of the U.S. Capitol. Now, Chris Carr will get to test his skills representing Georgia in corporate boardrooms around the world.
Carr, 41, the chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., was named Thursday as the new head of the state Department of Economic Development, which is tasked with helping Georgia companies grow and convincing businesses to locate here.
The Marist graduate succeeds his friend and former high school classmate Chris Cummiskey, who served as commissioner since January 2011 and during one of the most productive runs in the agency’s history in terms of corporate recruitment. Cummiskey will step down next month and join a subsidiary of the Southern Co. in an executive role.
“Chris Carr is respected throughout the state and has built a deep reservoir of goodwill,” Gov. Nathan Deal said in a news release.
Carr is expected to join the department in November. He’s served as Isakson’s lead staffer for the past five years, and previously served as deputy chief of staff. He formerly was as an attorney at Atlanta law firm Alston & Bird.
Carr said Deal has tasked him with maintaining momentum in corporate recruitment, job creation and helping promote and ensure Georgia’s business-friendly environment.
The Dunwoody native is familiar with Georgia’s 159 counties and its diverse economy, having run Isakson’s 2004 Senate campaign, said Heath Garrett, an Atlanta political strategist and a former Isakson chief of staff who hired and worked with Carr and Cummiskey.
“(Carr’s) affability combined with his intelligence will make him a great salesman for the state of Georgia,” Garrett said.
Carr and Cummiskey have traced similar personal and career arcs. In addition to Marist, both went to the University of Georgia, served on Isakson’s staff and Carr played a role in Cummiskey’s wedding.
Cummiskey credited his team and Deal with refocusing on workforce education and recruitment efforts that helped score thousands of jobs in his tenure, including headline-grabbing deals like a Caterpillar manufacturing plant in Athens, the Baxter International bioscience facility near Social Circle and the headquarters of homebuilding giant PulteGroup that is coming to Atlanta.
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