Offshore Wind Connections 2017 | National Conference …

Honourable Jonathan F. Mitchell - Mayor of the City of New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA

Taking office in January 2012, Jon Mitchell is New Bedfords thirty-eighth mayor. In November 2013, he was the first sitting New Bedford mayor since 1866 not to be opposed for reelection. He was re-elected again in November 2015 by a decisive margin.

Jon has sought to re-establish New Bedford as one of the leading cities in the Northeast. Since he took office, New Bedford has moved aggressively to reform its school system, to modernise the Port of New Bedford, to solidify the downtowns status as the cultural and economic centre of Southeastern Massachusetts, and to raise the quality of life of every neighbourhood. Under Jons leadership, New Bedford has emerged as a national leader in renewable energy, and has witnessed both its unemployment rate and its high school dropout rate plummet.

Jon attended Harvard College, where he funded his tuition with financial aid and by working in factories and warehouses back home during the summers. After graduating from Harvard with a degree in economics, Jon went to work in Washington, D.C., and remained there to attend law school at George Washington University. Upon graduation, Jon began work as a federal prosecutor in the United States Department of Justice, having been selected to the prestigious Attorney Generals Honor Program, one of only five attorneys out of over fifteen hundred applicants in the Departments Criminal Division

Jon served six years in the Army National Guard. He is married to Ann Partridge, a breast cancer doctor and researcher at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, where she founded and directs the Institutes Program for Young Women with Breast Cancer. They are the proud parents of three daughters, Grace (14), Natalie (12) and Lauren (10).

In September 2016 the Massachusetts State Governor signed a Letter of Intent with DONG Energy, Deepwater Wind and OffshoreMW to lease the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal as a staging and deployment location for future wind projects. The agreement with the developers, who hold leases in the federally identified offshore wind energy development areas located 14 miles south of Marthas Vineyard, builds upon the Commonwealths commitment to a diverse energy portfolio and position as a national leader in offshore wind, and will strengthen the states clean energy economy.

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