Rick Wade - SVP and Head of China Operations

Rick C. Wade joins GreenTech Automotive as the Senior Vice President & Head of China Operations, following a distinguished career at the Department of Commerce.

As a senior aide and spokesman for Secretary Gary Locke, Wade had a hand in all major policy and personnel decisions at the Commerce Department. He helped develop and manage the Commerce Department's annual budgets and programs for all 12 of the Department's bureaus, and had been a forceful advocate for the Department's priorities at many domestic and international forums including the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade.

Wade worked closely with the White House to ensure President Obama's business and economic programs, including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, were implemented effectively and efficiently. Representing the Department of Commerce, he was a member of The White House Auto-Recovery Task Force, participated and played an essential role in reconstruction plans for Chrysler LLC and General Motors Corporation. The Task Force was a cabinet-level group that included the Secretaries of Transportation, Commerce, Labor, and Energy.

Prior to his appointment at the Commerce Department, Wade was a key adviser to the Obama for America presidential campaign. After the successful 2008 election, Wade served as a senior adviser to the Presidential Transition Team. Before his departure from the Department of Commerce, Secretary Gary Locke praised him as "the spirit of the Department of Commerce."

Wade received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of South Carolina and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University, where he was also a Kennedy Fellow.