HARRISBURG, Pa. – Building his commitment to create a Government That Works, Governor Tom Wolf elevated the administration’s efficiency initiatives to an executive level office by signing an executive order Friday creating the Office of Performance through Excellence (OPE). 

Clarion University graduate Neil Weaver, most recently the Executive Deputy Secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, will lead the office.

Weaver has more than a decade of experience in government management and operations.

“State government employees are incredibly dedicated to public service and Governor Wolf is making sure that they have the tools and management to improve customer service and make agencies more efficient and accessible,” Weaver said.

Gov. Wolf named Weaver, class of 2000, to the Clarion University Council of Trustees in 2017. Weaver is a Bellefonte native. The Council of Trustees is composed of 11 members who, except for the student member, are nominated by the governor and appointed by Pennsylvania Senate.

Weaver, who holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from Clarion, is executive deputy secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, where he oversees the management, programs and operations for the state agency.

Weaver has served in many capacities in communications and government relations executive including: northeast manager for government affairs for Resource Environmental Solutions; director of communications and press secretary for DCED; deputy press secretary for the Department of Environmental Protection; director of client services for a private environmental engineering firm; national fundraising manager for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation; and chief of staff to gubernatorial primary candidate Kathleen McGinty.

The office will lead Governor Wolf’s ongoing efforts to bring private sector organizational strategies and processes to state agencies.

“In my business, I constantly looked to make our organization more efficient while improving customer service. This new office brings that private sector philosophy to state government,” said Governor Wolf. “We have already saved $373 million over the past three years by streamlining government and cutting waste, and now we are taking the next step by using proven strategies to change the culture of state government.

“We will give front line employees a voice to challenge the old ways of doing things, improve state services and use data to make smarter decisions.”

The OPE will combine the previous efforts of the Governor’s Office of Transformation, Innovation, Management and Efficiency (GO-TIME) with performance data metrics and the administration’s use of lean management. It will engage the commonwealth’s workforce to modernize operations, maximize efficiency and provide the highest quality services to the people of Pennsylvania.

Public and private sectors organizations, especially the manufacturing industry, use lean to enlist employees at every level to become problem-solvers and find ways to make their work more efficient and effective. The Wolf administration is currently using lean practices in 15 agencies to bolster continuous improvement and customer service. Commonwealth employees have already completed more than 130 lean projects.

Governor Wolf established GO-TIME shortly after taking office to leverage inter-agency coordination and collaboration.