Ellington Churchill, Jr. was sworn in as Secretary of the Department of General Services on July 26, 2016. He previously served as Deputy Secretary at the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. He brings extensive experience in large-scale business development, property management and contract negotiation to state government. As a proven manager and communicator able to guide collaborative efforts with both colleagues and clients, he is well-suited to oversee the Department’s diverse operations supporting all other functions of state government in a manner that increases customer satisfaction and changes Maryland for the better.
Secretary Churchill began his professional career in 1994 as a project manager at Lewis Contractors, a Mid-Atlantic construction management company. He was responsible for overseeing multimillion dollar projects, including the restoration of the Baltimore Basilica. In 2006, he took a position as a senior project manager at the Maryland branch of Liberty Property Trust, a national developer of industrial and commercial office space.
He returned to Lewis Contractors in 2010 and, prior to joining the Hogan administration, he was Director of Business Development. Among his numerous responsibilities, he oversaw the preparation of all technical responses to client requests for proposals, and followed through as the lead in coordinating and facilitating company-wide responses to clients throughout project life-cycles. Secretary Churchill built closer relationships with existing customers and provided avenues to increase company support for clients. He successfully garnered more than $100 million in projects, including the expansion of the Maryland School for the Blind and the restoration of the Washington Monument in Baltimore.
Secretary Churchill is a graduate of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, where he received a Bachelor of Architecture and a Master of Science in Architecture.
Active in civic organizations, the Secretary has served as a trustee of Outward Bound (Baltimore Chesapeake Bay), the Peale Center for Baltimore History and Architecture, and Arundel Community Development Services, among others. He lives in Anne Arundel County with his wife and two children.