Governor Rendell Announces Management Changes at the Department of General Services

HARRISBURG, Pa., Aug. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Governor Edward G. Rendell today announced that Department of General Services Secretary James P. Creedon will step down, effective Sept. 3. Creedon will start a management consulting and project management practice based in the Lehigh Valley.

Creedon joined the Rendell Administration as deputy secretary for public works in June of 2003. He was appointed as secretary of General Services in June of 2005. In February of 2009, he was named by the Governor as Pennsylvania's Chief Implementation Officer for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). He will continue to work on ARRA implementation on a contract basis.

"From day one, Jim Creedon has led our successful efforts to reduce the cost of state government," Governor Rendell said. "Under his leadership, state government operations, from energy management and procurement, to public works projects, are running more efficiently and are costing less."

At Governor Rendell's direction, Creedon led an extensive and successful campaign to reduce the overall cost of operating state government. He helped to advance the nationally-recognized strategic sourcing initiative, which leverages the buying power of the state, generating over $360 million in savings to state taxpayers.

Under his guidance, the commonwealth also has reduced energy consumption in state office buildings by 23 percent, saving taxpayers $2.4 million in annual utility costs.

Creedon has overseen more than $4 billion in design and construction projects, including the Pennsylvania Judicial Center in Harrisburg, the Philadelphia Convention Center expansion, the new Consol Energy Arena in Pittsburgh, as well as dozens of projects in the State System of Higher Education. His efforts to control construction costs resulted in change order rates decreasing from a high of 20 percent in 2003 to less than five percent today.

Also during Creedon's tenure, state government has reduced the size and cost of its vehicle fleet, moved state facilities into downtown locations in order to spur economic development, and sold the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh state office buildings in order to avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in renovation costs.

Creedon has also led Pennsylvania's involvement in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, where he is managing over $13 billion in transportation, infrastructure, energy, education and health care spending. Recently, Pennsylvania was ranked first in the country for its utilization of ARRA transportation funding.

"Jim Creedon, along with Ron Naples, has done an extraordinary job in leading Pennsylvania's federal stimulus efforts. Since the beginning of the stimulus initiative, the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee consistently ranked Pennsylvania among the best states for rapid progress in allocating its Recovery Act transportation funds. We appreciate the hard work he has done for Pennsylvania," Governor Rendell added.

The Governor has appointed Elizabeth O'Reilly, currently the deputy secretary for public works, to succeed Creedon. O'Reilly, who was appointed deputy secretary for public works in Oct. 2007, previously served in DGS' Office of Chief Counsel since 1987. As deputy secretary, O'Reilly is responsible for all non-highway construction projects funded by the commonwealth. O'Reilly has led the commonwealth's prison expansion initiative and has been responsible for the development of the annual capital plan that serves as the guide for over $2 billion in design and construction activity. She has worked extensively on the department's energy reduction program, cost control planning, and the minority- and woman-owned business enterprise initiative. She received a B.S. in Landscape Architecture from the Pennsylvania State University and a law degree from Wake Forest University.

The Governor also announced several other key changes at DGS. Anne Rung, deputy secretary for administration and procurement, will leave the Rendell Administration Aug. 20, to join the Obama Administration as senior director of administration in the U.S. Dept. of Commerce. Rung began her work in the Rendell Administration as DGS chief of staff and later became deputy secretary for administration in February, 2006. In 2008, as part of the department's cost-cutting initiatives, she assumed the dual role of deputy for administration and procurement. Rung has led the department's internal cost-control efforts that have kept its operating costs level since 2003. She has also managed a centralized procurement operation that has saved $360 million.

Rung will be replaced by Beverly Hudson, currently DGS chief of staff. Hudson, a graduate of the Pennsylvania Management Associate (PMA) program, will continue to serve as the deputy chief implementation officer for ARRA.

SOURCE Pennsylvania Office of the Governor