Senate Overwhelmingly Confirms Governor Shapiro’s Nominees to Lead the Departments of Conservation and Natural Resources, General Services
June 07, 2023
Secretary Dunn continues her leadership at DCNR while Secretary McNeil becomes the first African American to hold the position at DGS
Harrisburg, PA – Today, the Pennsylvania Senate overwhelmingly confirmed two of Governor Josh Shapiro’s cabinet nominations: Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn and Department of General Services (DGS) Secretary Reggie McNeil. Read more about the cabinet confirmations below.
The Pennsylvania Senate overwhelmingly confirmed Cindy Adams Dunn to serve as the Secretary of Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). Secretary Dunn has spent her career in conservation and public service, previously serving as DCNR Secretary under Governor Tom Wolf, and will continue to advocate for and protect Pennsylvania’s natural resources.
After Governor Shapiro proposed a $112 million investment for infrastructure at state parks and forests in his budget – the largest single investment in decades – Secretary Dunn joined him to celebrate the opening of a new access point at Lehigh Gorge State Park in White Haven. Under Secretary Dunn’s leadership, DCNR launched the Pennsylvania Outdoor Corps Program in 2016 to give young Pennsylvanians workforce development opportunities on public lands, joined the Pennsylvania Organization for Waterways and Rivers to name the Susquehanna River North Branch the 2023 River of the Year, awarded, $290,734 in Wild Conservation Resource Program grants for eight projects, reported two successful independent audits of Pennsylvania’s 2.2 million acre state forest system – which gave DCNR high marks for the agency’s proactive work – and recently conducted a series of stakeholder meetings in nine cities that examined how to grow Pennsylvania’s $14 billion outdoor recreation economy. DCNR also hired Pennsylvania’s first director of outdoor recreation. Governor Shapiro’s budget proposal includes a $500,000 investment to create an Office of Outdoor Recreation to help DCNR leverage outdoor recreation for economic development.
The Pennsylvania Senate unanimously confirmed Secretary Reggie McNeil to serve as Pennsylvania’s 11th Secretary of the Department of General Services (DGS). With 27 years of service to our nation and public schools, McNeil joins the Commonwealth after a 22-career as a naval officer in the United States Civil Engineer Corps. Secretary McNeil most recently served as the Chief Operating Officer of The School District of Philadelphia – the eighth-largest school district in the nation.
Under Secretary McNeil’s leadership in the Shapiro Administration, since February, DGS has cut the time it takes to certify a small business by 33%, conducted Supplier Search workshops aimed at educating small minority, women, and veteran-owned businesses on available contracting opportunities, and implemented several improvements to the programs and policies administered by the agency’s Bureau of Diversity, Inclusion and Small Business Opportunities to improve the quality of the overall experience of small, diverse, and veteran businesses looking to do business with the Commonwealth. Secretary McNeil’s priorities for DGS include identifying ways to further improve and streamline the Commonwealth’s procurement system and rightsizing the Commonwealth’s owned and leased real estate portfolio to better respond to the future needs of the state’s workforce.
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