Todd Haymore

Todd Haymore was appointed Secretary of Commerce and Trade by Governor Terry McAuliffe in September 2016 after previously serving as Governor McAuliffe's Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry. The Secretary of Commerce and Trade oversees the economic, community, and workforce development of the Commonwealth, and each of the thirteen Commerce and Trade agencies actively contributes to Virginia's economic health and high quality of life. The primary role of the secretariat is to work with the Governor, other Cabinet members, the General Assembly, private sector interests, and other key stakeholders to ensure that Virginia is utilizing its unique assets to solidify its position as the preeminent place to live, work and conduct business.

Governor McAuliffe re-appointed Todd in 2014 to serve as Virginia’s Secretary of Agriculture & Forestry. Todd became Virginia’s second Agriculture & Forestry Secretary in 2010 when then-Governor Bob McDonnell appointed him to the post. Prior to being named Secretary, Todd served in a number of leadership posts in the private and public sectors, including: Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (VDACS) under then-Governor Tim Kaine; an executive at both Universal Leaf Tobacco Corporation and DIMON, Inc., two of the world’s largest leaf tobacco dealers; and legislative assistant and communications director to former U.S. Rep. L.F Payne (VA-5th). Todd began his professional career as a legislative intern to former Virginia State Senator Onico Barker.

During the his tenure as Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry, Todd worked closely with Governors, legislators, and key stakeholders on a number of legislative and budgetary initiatives to integrate fully agriculture and forestry into Virginia's overall economic development and jobs creation platform and to better enhance the standing of the two industries in the Commonwealth, across the country, and around the world.

One of the top successes of these initiatives includes creating the first-of-its-kind Governor's Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development (AFID) Fund in 2012, a multi-million dollar economic development incentive program specifically geared toward existing or new agricultural and forestry value-added or processing facilities.

In addition, Todd worked from 2011-2016 to secure new funds to create a global infrastructure of trade offices in Canada, China, Costa Rica, India, Mexico, Moscow, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom to assist in the marketing and promotion of Virginia's diversified portfolio of agricultural and forestry products.

Another key item was the creation of the Virginia Farmer Business Development Program, a unique concept to help family farms create more value-added income streams to their farming operations. The incentive driven program launched formally in late 2016.

Todd received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from the University of Richmond and his Masters of Business Administration Degree from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). Todd also completed training at the Performance Management Group's Virginia Executive Institute at VCU. In December 2016 during fall commencement ceremonies, VCU awarded Todd an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, VCU’s highest form of recognition, for his contributions to Virginia in economic development and global trade promotion.

A native of Danville and the Pittsylvania County region, Todd is married to the former Margaret Cary Lewis. They have three children: Catharine and Elizabeth (twins), and Lillian. The Haymore family resides in Henrico County.