Leadership Changes Rolled Out In Anne Arundel County Government

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — Current county chief administrative officer Ben Birge has been appointed as the new president and CEO of the county's Economic Development Corporation. In this position, Birge will focus on implementing Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman's post-pandemic "Build Back Better” economic development vision.

“Ben makes big things happen,” Pittman said. “Over the past 19 months, he created ArundelStat and its Open Arundel web portal, installed impressive deputies to oversee land use and health and human services, and built a team of department heads that has delivered an unprecedented quality and quantity of service to this county. Now, as president/CEO of Economic Development, Ben will do for our economy what he’s done for our government. He will 'build back better' from this pandemic, not just to drive growth in our tax base, but to improve the lives of our residents.”

Pittman named Matt Power, current deputy chief administrative officer for land use, as the new chief administrative officer to replace Birge.

“Matt joined our staff just six months ago, but demonstrated quickly that he has the ability to deliver the kind of open, data-driven, efficient government operations that our residents deserve,” Pittman said. “His outstanding management during the most urgent moments of the pandemic showed me that he has the strength and the skills to be an excellent CAO.”

Pittman also announced another senior leadership change. Kai Boggess-de Bruin, currently the deputy CAO for health and human services, will become chief of staff. Current chief of staff Jennifer Purcell will be stepping down from her post to implement priority projects for Pittman with a focus on education, health and community engagement initiatives.