Commerce Has a New Gatekeeper — and a New Map of the Money
November 4, 2026
The Maryland Department of Commerce has a new front door, and if you have a client who wants state economic-development money, you need to know his name.
Matthew Cimino, PhD, announced November 3 that he is Commerce’s new Managing Director of Policy and Government Affairs. He comes out of the department’s Strategic Industries work — life sciences, quantum, computational health, the emerging sectors — and he says he’ll keep that portfolio alongside the new policy and government-relations job.
That combination is the story. Cimino doesn’t just run the GR shop. He came up through the money side. And the money side just got a lot bigger.
