Marty Walsh
Marty Walsh is a Senior Vice President at the Liberty Square Group focusing on economic development strategies and government relations at the federal, state, and local levels. Over the past fifteen years he has served in various roles in the public sector, which has given him an extensive breadth of knowledge of legislation, policy, grass roots organizing efforts, and specifically, business development.
Prior to joining the Liberty Square Group in 2009, Mr. Walsh was the Director of the Massachusetts Office of Business Development (MOBD) for Governor Deval Patrick. His primary responsibility at MOBD was to help businesses create jobs and increase private investment in the Commonwealth by helping companies navigate the myriad of local, state, and federal systems for grants, tax incentives, and other assistance. He has experience in growing companies in emerging technologies (including biotechnology and alternative energy), manufacturing, and many other business sectors critical to the Massachusetts economy.
During the two plus years Mr. Walsh served at the Office of Business Development, over 15,000 new jobs were created, close to 40,000 jobs were retained, and private investment topped $5 billion in Massachusetts. Highlights include: winning the NREL Wind Blade Test Facility in Charlestown, MA; retaining Shire, a biopharmaceutical company in MA and relocating it to Lexington; and locating Brookfield Renewable Power Headquarters in Marlboro. In addition to the economic development, he lead the rebranding effort of state and quasi-government economic development agencies known as the Business Resources Team, as well as, led the marketing efforts for the “It’s All Here” campaign. Both efforts worked simultaneously to create a unified brand for Massachusetts Business Development.
Mr. Walsh worked on two major pieces of legislation that promoted sector development--The Massachusetts Life Sciences Bill and the Green Communities Act, both of which passed the legislature and were signed into law in 2008. For the Life Science Bill, he worked with the industry and the legislature to conduct public hearing across the state to garner support for the bill. For the Green Communities Act, he worked with cities and towns to promote the benefits of the bill and rally communities to support its passage. In his role at the Office of Business Development, Mr. Walsh sat on the Board of the Economic Assistance Coordinating Council (EACC) where he worked with the town and city economic development agencies to give companies a state tax credit in return for jobs and private investment. During this time, he created close working relationships with a majority of municipal economic development and procurement officers.
Prior to working in the Patrick Administration, Mr. Walsh worked for U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy for eight years in a variety of roles, including Campaign Manager for the 2006 re-election campaign. In addition to his campaign work, he served as a Legislative Assistant on the Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee in Washington D.C for five years. In this role, he coordinated all of Senator Kennedy’s legislative efforts for economic development, energy, environment, and other domestic issues including nominations before the HELP Committee. He also led numerous efforts to engage advocacy groups to create grass roots campaigns and press strategies that helped to promote and pass some of the most high profile legislation during that period.
Mr. Walsh has also managed several campaigns at the state and local levels in Massachusetts and has worked on the last three presidential campaigns. His most recent victory was this past November’s Re-election of Fall River’s Mayor Will Flanagan where he served as the Campaign Consultant, managing the overall campaign. In 2010, Mr. Walsh was responsible for coordinating Election Day efforts for Governor Patrick, Congressman Frank, and Congressman Lynch in their re-election efforts. Prior to 2010, he directed the President Obama Election Day efforts in Manchester, New Hampshire. In 2004, he ran Central Florida for Senator John Kerry in his Presidential Election, and participated in the Florida recount in 2000.
Mr. Walsh is a graduate of the George Washington University in Washington D.C.
