Dr. David A. Sampson

U.S. Acting Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development

David A. Sampson was nominated to be Deputy Secretary of Commerce by President George W. Bush on April 1, 2005, and became Acting Deputy Secretary on May 2, 2005. Previously, Sampson was nominated by President George W. Bush on March 19, 2001, and confirmed as the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development by the United States Senate on August 3, 2001. 

As the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Sampson has serves as the principal advisor on domestic economic development policy. His primary responsibilities include policy development, establishing funding priorities, defining grant investment policy guidelines and directing the operations of the Economic Development Administration (EDA). 

The Economic Development Administration has played a key role in President Bush's efforts to promote strong economic growth and job creation, especially in communities and regions experiencing structural economic change. Sampson's team has successfully transformed EDA's culture to that of a "public sector venture capital firm", focused on attracting private capital to economically distresses areas. EDA's efforts resulted in a four-hundred percent increase in private sector leverage of federal grant dollars in fiscal year 2003 compared to fiscal year 2000. 

Under Sampson's leadership, EDA has advanced market-driven economic development strategies with special emphasis on initiatives designed to strengthen regional capacity for innovation, competitiveness and sustained economic growth in order to succeed in a global economy. Sampson implemented a new set of standards centered on the importance of results-driven performance management and measures. In 2003, EDA implemented one of the first Balanced Scorecards in the federal government. As a result, the Office of Management and Budget recognized EDA as a high performing federal agency, and EDA has been featured as a model performance-driven public sector agency by the Balanced Scorecard collaborative in Harvard Business School. 

Dr. Sampson's extensive prior economic development experience in the private and public sectors includes serving as President & Chief Executive Officer of the Arlington, Texas Chamber of Commerce; Chairman of the Texas Council on Workforce and Economic Competitiveness; and Vice Chair of the Texas Strategic Economic Development Planning Commission in then-Governor Bush's Administration.

Dr. Sampson is a graduate of David Lipscomb University, the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and earned his doctorate at Abilene Christian University. Dr. Sampson and his family currently reside in Northern Virginia.