Dan Rivera stepped down from his position as president and CEO of the economic development agency MassDevelopment on Friday, effective immediately, more than two years before his contract was set to expire.
Economic Development Secretary Yvonne Hao, also chair of the MassDevelopment board, said in a statement Friday that she and the administration thanked Rivera for his tenure.
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"Under Dan’s leadership, the agency has funded key housing deals, created economic development opportunities in Gateway Cities, and promoted commercial development across the state. We wish him well on his next endeavor," the statement said.
Rivera stepped down to pursue other opportunities, according to a spokesperson from the Executive Office of Economic Development. His resignation was first reported in Contrarian Boston.
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Dan O’Connell, MassDevelopment board member and former secretary of housing and economic development under Gov. Deval Patrick, will step in as interim CEO while the board conducts a search for a new leader.
Rivera, a former mayor of Lawrence, was appointed to lead the quasi-public agency by Gov. Charlie Baker in January 2021. His contract was due to expire in June 2023, but the MassDevelopment Board voted to extend it until June 2026 in the last few weeks of Baker's term.
Rivera crossed party lines in 2018 to endorse the Republican governor's reelection bid and served on Baker's COVID-19 reopening task force.
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When his contract was extended in December 2022, just weeks before Gov. Maura Healey took office, the incoming governor's team would not comment on whether Healey had planned to nominate someone new for the president and CEO role.
Under Rivera's tenure at MassDevelopment, he oversaw the expansion of a state program that aims to speed up private investment and development in specific areas of Gateway Cities. He announced the agency would double the size of the Transformative Development Initiative and pump $23.7 million into the program.
During the pandemic, MassDevelopment under Rivera's leadership helped steer part of the nearly $169 million in U.S. Treasury funds that came to Massachusetts through the State Small Business Credit Initiative toward funding loans for small businesses and entrepreneurs, along with other quasi-public agencies Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation and MassVentures.
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