Connect Series: Federal Downsizing and Regional Impact

Clark Mercer | Executive Director of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments 

Clark Mercer is the Executive Director of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG). In this role, he is responsible for the nonprofit association’s overall administration, supporting the Board of Directors and policy committees, and representing COG before a variety of government, business, and other stakeholder organizations. COG’s membership is comprised of 24 local governments throughout the National Capital Region including the District of Columbia and localities in northern Virginia and suburban Maryland. COG coordinates a wide range of activities throughout the tri-state region such as transportation planning, homeland security and public safety, housing and homelessness, water infrastructure, air quality, and energy.  

With more than 20 years of experience in the public, private, and civic sectors, Mr. Mercer previously served as Chief of Staff to Virginia Governor Ralph Northam for eight years. During this time, Virginia was named the best state for business by MSNBC a record three times, had the lowest recidivism rate in the country, Medicaid expansion was passed extending healthcare to over 700,000 Virginians, the minimum wage increased for the first time in generations, the death penalty was abolished,  and major investments were made in clean energy including offshore wind, teacher pay, and access to universal PreK and community college.  

Prior to his role serving the Governor of Virginia, Mr. Mercer served on the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, a bipartisan, Congressional commission chartered with evaluating and making recommendations to Congress to improve contracting and oversight in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mr. Mercer also worked for U.S. Senator Mark Warner and was a member of the inaugural Fellows Program at LMI Government Consulting.  

Born and raised in Alexandria, Virginia, Mr. Mercer received a Master of Public Policy from George Washington University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University. He serves on the Board of Directors of Leadership Greater Washington, Greater Washington Board of Trade, Cornerstone Craftsman, Alexandria City Public Schools Athletic Hall of Fame, and the Advisory Council of the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration. Mr. Mercer lives in Alexandria with his wife, Kelly, two children, Everett and Cecilia, and his two labs, Sprout and Teddy. 

Eric A. Scorsone, Ph.D. | Executive Director of the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service

Dr. Eric Scorsone is Executive Director of the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. Eric has over 25 years of public service in academic settings, as well as many years’ experience in state and local government. He has expertise in state and local public finance, community and economic development, strategic planning, capacity building, public administration and regional economics.   

His most recent position before joining UVA was at Michigan State University as Associate Professor and Founding Director of the MSU Extension Center for Local Government Finance & Policy, and Director of the MSU Extension Institute of Public Utilities. He worked with many communities throughout Michigan on capacity building in public administration, economic development and strategic planning. He also did capacity building work and strategic planning with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources leadership teams. During his tenure at MSU, Dr. Scorsone went on leave for state-level appointments as Deputy State Treasurer at the Michigan Department of Treasury and Senior Economist at the Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency.   

Prior to MSU, Dr. Scorsone was an assistant professor and developed award-winning extension programs in rural health economics and economic development in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Kentucky. He worked with many communities throughout eastern Kentucky on issues related to community and economic development projects and capacity building. 

Prior to Kentucky, he served as an Economist for the Colorado Governor’s Office of State Planning and Budget and as a Senior Economist for the City of Aurora, Colorado. Eric has worked on international development projects in Thailand, Macedonia and Indonesia, and has taught public performance management and public finance in the European Union at the University of Bologna, Italy, and the University of Valencia, Spain, amongst other locations. Just one example of his dedication to public service is the time he spent in Flint, Michigan, as Senior Advisor to Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley, helping coordinate MSU Extension’s response to the water and financial crisis there —work for which his team won the Abraham Lincoln Award from the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.  His team worked to build the capacity of the city of Flint to manage its budget and public services during an incredibly difficult period. 

Eric received his Ph.D. from Colorado State University, where his dissertation focused on economic models of growth in the Denver housing and labor markets. He received his M.S. from Michigan State University in Agricultural Economics, a B.B.A. in Economics from Loyola University of Chicago, and is a member of Alpha Sigma Nu. He has been interviewed by and quoted in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, The Bond Buyer, Detroit Free Press, Detroit News, The Atlantic, Newsweek, CNN, The Guardian, Fox Business and MSNBC. 

Alex Orfinger | Market President and Publisher of the Washington Business Journal 

Alex Orfinger is Market President and Publisher of the Washington Business Journal. For close to two decades, Alex’s leadership propelled the Washington Business Journal into one of the top-performing business journals in the country and placed regionalism at the forefront of business and community development. His generosity, influence and extraordinary leadership in the region have made him a powerful voice and force for change. 

Alex Orfinger joined the Washington Business Journal in 1996 after serving as publisher of the Dallas Business Journal and associate publisher of the Atlanta Business Chronicle. He oversaw the Washington Business Journal’s evolution from a print-dominated enterprise to a hybrid of digital news, print publication and major events. 

Since he arrived in Washington, he has been a dogged supporter of the region’s business community, saying often that the nation’s capital should be known as a center of commerce, not just a center of government and politics.  

Alex is active in the local philanthropic community and has served on a number of boards.  He is the current chair of Jubilee Housing and immediate past chair of Leadership Greater Washington.    

A native of New York, Alex holds a degree in history from Vassar College and an MS in international affairs from Georgetown University.