Lisa Clarke, executive director of the Rochester, Minnesota-based Destination Medical Center Economic Development Agency, is retiring, effective Jan. 4 of next year.
Since 2014, Clarke has led Minnesota’s largest public-private economic development partnership in its mission to transform the city of Rochester into a global destination for health and wellness.
Patrick Seeb, Destination Medical Center director for economic development and placemaking, has been appointed by the DMC EDA board to succeed Clarke.
Since 2010, Clarke has been involved in all facets of the DMC initiative that included significant planning and research. In 2013, Clarke led a team that marshaled a proposal calling for public funding to augment private investment in the transformation of Rochester through the Minnesota Legislature, ultimately winning approval for the 20-year, $5.6 billion initiative, the largest public-private partnership in Minnesota’s history.
Clarke built the first DMC EDA nonprofit organization and hired an experienced staff. Additionally, she worked for two years with urban planners to solidify a development plan creating six integrated sub-districts in the city’s downtown core and to set a long-term strategy for attracting people, investment and jobs to Rochester and the region.
During Clarke’s tenure as DMC EDA executive director, Mayo Clinic and private developers invested nearly $1 billion in development projects, from mixed-use housing to major hotels and One Discovery Square, a business and research complex now occupied by a range of international biotech and healthcare companies and the University of Minnesota Rochester.
“I am grateful for Lisa’s boundless energy and dedication to the DMC vision for Rochester’s growth,” said Rochester Mayor Kim Norton. “She has been at the table to address critical issues in the community and she continues to advance projects and programs to ensure Rochester’s future.”
