City officials announced Wednesday that Moynihan will be the next executive director of BTVIgnite, a partnership among government, businesses and educational institutions that aims to bolster the local tech scene.
Moynihan grew up in Detroit, where his father worked for Chrysler. “I’ve watched what technical disruption has done to the world around us. I watched as America’s manufacturing industry changed and what that did to opportunities for jobs,” he said at a news conference about his hiring.
Moynihan comes to Burlington from London, where he led the digital team for a local office of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.
“Folks like me, who are doing digital innovation, are creating a new landscape for the future, and some of things we’re creating are going to lead to new disruptive challenges,” he said.
He said he doesn’t expect automation to replace truck drivers in the near future. However, as the director of a semi-public nonprofit that brings together government, nonprofit and business partners to promote the tech industry, he does want to make sure as many people as possible are prepared to take advantage of Burlington’s “world class digital assets,” such as its fiber network, Burlington Telecom.
That means working with BTVIgnite and its partners to make sure young people have opportunities to study and pursue extracurriculars in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Burlington, through its colleges and universities as well as its shared working — or “maker” — spaces, has a track record of fostering startups. Where there’s room for improvement is creating a business climate and national profile that will allow those startups to remain in the Queen City as they scale up.
Moynihan said there’s an impression among local entrepreneurs that in order to find investors, they need to go to major cities like New York or Boston. BTVIgnite can help raise Burlington’s profile through events with nationally known figures in tech and can help attract venture capital to Vermont, he said.
As executive director Moynihan replaces Michael Schirling, a former Burlington police chief, who was recently appointed to Gov. Phil Scott’s Cabinet as secretary of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development. Moynihan said it will be great to have someone like Schirling, who understands his organization and what it’s trying to accomplish, leading that agency.
