Matt Varilek

Matt Varilek serves in the cabinet of Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan as commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), the state’s principal economic and workforce development agency. From 2016–2023, he served as president of the Little Falls-based Initiative Foundation, which supports economic and community development in the 14 counties and two sovereign tribal nations of central Minnesota. Previously, Varilek was chief operating officer for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), regional administrator for U.S. SBA Region VIII, and a U.S. House of Representatives candidate in South Dakota. He also served as an economic development director and speechwriter for the offices of U.S. Senators Tom Daschle and Tim Johnson and director of policy and research for Natsource LLC, an energy brokerage based in New York.

Varilek earned a B.A. from Carleton College, a M.Phil. in economic development from the University of Glasgow, and a M.Phil. in environment and development from the University of Cambridge.