Photo Courtesy/WV Legislative Photography James Bailey was appointed as the acting secretary of the Department of Commerce by Gov. Jim Justice.

Photo Courtesy/WV Legislative Photography
James Bailey was appointed as the acting secretary of the Department of Commerce by Gov. Jim Justice.

CHARLESTON — James Bailey, a deputy secretary and general counsel for the West Virginia Department of Commerce, will serve as acting cabinet secretary as current Secretary Ed Gaunch retires.

According to a letter dated July 14, Gov. Jim Justice appointed Bailey acting Commerce secretary effective now, replacing Gaunch whose last day was Friday.

Bailey has served as deputy secretary and the department’s head attorney since last August. Prior to that, Bailey served as counsel to Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, beginning in 2019. He was Justice’s senior counsel for policy and legislation beginning in November 2017.

Bailey also worked as counsel to the Senate Government Organization Committee, then chaired by Blair, beginning in 2015. He began his career after graduating West Virginia University as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Kanawha County.

“I look forward to serving the governor and state in this new role,” Bailey said in a statement Friday. “We will continue the wonderful momentum we have generated under the leadership of Governor Justice. It is an honor to be chosen to continue the outstanding work of Secretary Ed Gaunch and the team here at the Department of Commerce.”

Bailey succeeds Gaunch, whom Justice appointed as Commerce secretary at the end of 2018. A retired president and CEO for the Carson Insurance Agency, Gaunch was elected to the West Virginia Senate in 2014 as part of the Republican wave that took both legislative chambers. He lost a close re-election bid in 2018 to current state Sen. Richard Lindsay, D-Kanawha.

During his legislative tenure, Gaunch served as chairman for the Senate Committee Government Organization and vice-chairman of the Senate Pensions Committee. He also served as the first co-chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on Flooding, which was tasked with investigating the Commerce Department’s handling of the RISE West Virginia flood relief program.

Gaunch was appointed after the department lacked a permanent leader for six months due to the resignation of former Commerce secretary Woody Thrasher after the RISE program grinded to a halt. The program, funded with a $149 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, was supposed to help renovate and reconstruct homes lost during the floods of June 2016.

Instead, commerce officials entered into several contracts with a contractor without going through state purchasing procedures according to audits. The RISE program was paused in February 2018 while the governor’s office reviewed the Horne contracts. In June 2018, West Virginia National Guard Adj. Gen. James Hoyer was placed in charge of RISE, with Thrasher resigning at the end of that month. Clayton Burch, the current Superintendent of Schools, served as acting Commerce secretary during the six months the post as vacant.

The Department of Commerce oversees the Division of Forestry; the Division of Labor; the Division of Natural Resources; the Geological and Economic Survey; the Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training; the Division of Rehabilitation Services; and WorkForce West Virginia.

The department previously managed the West Virginia Development Office, the Office of Energy, the Tourism Office, the Small Business Development Center, the Broadband Enhancement Council, International Development, ad Community Advancement and Development. In 2021, the Legislature turned the Office of Tourism into the Department of Tourism, and spun off the other agencies into the Department of Economic Development.