Tennessee Labor Department's Top Officials Leaving in January
Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Burns Phillips recently announced both he and Deputy Commissioner Dustin Swayne will leave state government in mid-January 2019. They have formed a consulting practice called SATRDÉ.
Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Burns Phillips recently announced both he and Deputy Commissioner Dustin Swayne will leave state government in mid-January 2019. They have formed a consulting practice called SATRDÉ that will focus on guiding public and private organizations in developing 21st-century business and workforce strategies through digital transformation, according to the state agency's announcement.
Gov. Bill Haslam named Phillips interim commissioner for the department in March 2013 and then appointed him commissioner in June 2013. Phillips had worked in the state's budget office for seven years before entering the private sector in 1981. This year, he marked 15 years of service with the state of Tennessee.
"It has been an honor and privilege to serve as the commissioner of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development for nearly six years," Phillips said. "The leadership style and support from Governor Haslam enabled the department's many talented, knowledgeable, and dedicated individuals to be creative and innovative in developing new and improved techniques with which to serve our citizens."
Phillips had appointed Swayne, a 14-year veteran of the department, deputy commissioner in April 2013. Swayne previously served as assistant commissioner of the department's Workforce Services Division and spearheaded the creation of the state's mobile American Job Center Unit and Reemployment Services program.
"Burns has worked extremely hard during the last six years to streamline and improve the many different programs his department oversees," Gov. Haslam said. "Labor and Workforce Development is a much more efficient and technologically advanced agency than it was in 2013, and that's because of the culture both the commissioner and his deputy commissioner created there."