Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is moving the state’s commerce secretary, Kevin Anderson, to a senior adviser role while bringing in a cybersecurity veteran to lead the department.

Moore announced Friday afternoon that Harry Coker Jr. will be the new secretary of commerce starting Feb. 5.

Coker, a Naval Academy graduate, worked most recently as the federal government’s national cyber director under former President Joe Biden.

He previously held top positions with the CIA and the National Security Agency, and retired from the U.S. Navy after two decades of service with the rank of commander.

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Coker will serve as acting secretary pending a confirmation vote in the state Senate.

Harry Coker Jr., then the national cyber director, greets Gov. Wes Moore at an event at Howard Community College in November. Coker is Moore’s pick to lead the state Department of Commerce. (Jerry Jackson / The Baltimore Banner)

The move aligns with Moore’s vision of expanding the state’s economy into emerging fields like cybersecurity, defense technology and quantum computing.

“Harry Coker understands that mission and brings a wealth of experience working on the leading edge of the very sectors Maryland stands to win,” Moore, a Democrat, said in a statement.

The governor frequently says that Maryland should be the “cyber capital” of the nation. The state has thousands of job openings in the cyber field, and Moore and Coker both appeared at an event at Howard Community College last fall where grants for training future cyber workers were announced.

Moore said he looks forward to a “new chapter” at the Department of Commerce under Coker.

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Maryland Secretary of Commerce Kevin Anderson talks with Tareq Abu Ghazaleh, director of vision oversight for the directorate of Jordan.
Maryland Secretary of Commerce Kevin Anderson, left, talks with Tareq Abu Ghazaleh, an official from Jordan, ahead of a roundtable meeting with Gov. Wes Moore and King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein of Jordan at the State House in Annapolis on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (Pamela Wood / The Baltimore Banner)

Anderson, who had led the Department of Commerce since the start of the Moore administration in 2023, will become a senior adviser to the governor on economic development. He’s the first of Moore’s cabinet secretaries to move to a different role.

Moore said he was grateful for Anderson’s “distinguished service” that included developing a 10-year economic strategy plan and promoting collaboration to strengthen the state’s business climate.

Earlier this month, Anderson announced a reorganization within the Department of Commerce, hiring five new top employees to head up various new initiatives.

Baltimore Banner reporter Brenda Wintrode contributed to this story.