Governor Perdue Recommends Kevin Clark as GEFA Executive Director

ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that he is recommending Kevin Clark as the next executive director of the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA). The GEFA board of directors will act on the recommendation during a called board meeting tomorrow. The current agency director, Phil Foil, is returning to the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) to oversee a new mortgage assistance program for unemployed and underemployed homeowners in danger of foreclosure. The program is expected to help approximately 6,800 Georgians avoid foreclosure. Georgia will receive $126 million from the federal “Hardest Hit Fund” to fund the mortgage assistance program.

“Phil has done a great job managing GEFA’s participation in stimulus programs, and he will now lead our efforts to ensure our state’s mortgage assistance program is a success. Georgia will benefit greatly from Phil’s knowledge and expertise with federal funding programs,” said Governor Perdue. “I am also delighted to recommend Kevin Clark as GEFA’s new executive director. The GEFA staff and the customers they serve will benefit greatly from his experience and knowledge of state government.”

Clark currently serves as deputy executive counsel and deputy COO in the Office of the Governor where he provides strategic support for core business areas of state government and advised the Governor and senior staff on legislative and legal matters. Prior to joining the Governor’s Office, Clark held several leadership positions in state government agencies, including the Georgia Department of Transportation, the Lake Lanier Islands Development Authority, the Georgia State Financing & Investment Commission and the Georgia World Congress Center.

Clark earned a law degree from the John Marshall Law School in Atlanta, Georgia, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Asheville. He is also a graduate of the Governor’s Executive Leadership Training Program. Clark is a certified civil mediator, an active member of the State Bar of Georgia, and an adjunct professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He currently serves as vice chairman of the Georgia Higher Education Facilities Authority.

Prior to his appointment as GEFA executive director in January 2009, Foil served in a senior management position with DCA where he managed the agency’s operations and served as DCA’s federal affairs and congressional liaison.  Foil successfully led DCA’s pursuit of the 2008 Georgia Oglethorpe Progress Award (the Georgia version of the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award).  Prior to joining DCA, Foil was a public relations consultant and a client services manager for Automatic Data Processing (ADP).

GEFA is the lead agency for state energy programs and is home to the Center of Innovation for Energy; directs the Georgia Land Conservation Program and maintains state-owned fuel storage tanks; and offers financing for reservoir and water supply, water quality, storm water and solid waste infrastructure. For more information about GEFA, visit www.gefa.org

###