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Colorado entrepreneur and consultant JB Holston will take over as the state higher education department’s new executive director starting in January, according to a Monday announcement from Gov. Jared Polis’ office.
Holston, who joined the Colorado Department of Higher Education on Monday, will shadow exiting Executive Director Angie Paccione until Jan. 9, when he will assume leadership of a department that’s expected to undergo plenty of change in the next year.
Last week, Polis said he wants to end Colorado’s higher education department in its current form and create a new agency that would merge the functions of the state’s higher education, labor, and other departments in a bid to strengthen training for jobs.
In an interview Monday, Holston said he was a senior advisor on a report that recommended the creation of the Colorado Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development.