There’s a New Made in America Office Director

The office created by President Biden to oversee the government’s increased use of federal procurement to support American manufacturing is getting a new director who hails from the Commerce Department. 

Livia Shmavonian will be the new director of the Made in America Office within the Office of Management and Budget, which Biden created via executive order just days after taking office. 

“Livia brings a wealth of experience in labor, economic, and trade policy to this critical position, and she’ll play a key role in continuing to advance the president’s vision for a future that’s Made in America with economic growth that finally works for working families,” OMB Director Shalanda Young said in a statement on Wednesday. 

Shmavonian served as director of legislative and intergovernmental affairs and senior advisor to the undersecretary at the International Trade Administration. She was previously staff director for the Senate Finance Committee's panel on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness, and was a senior advisor to Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa. 

Casey tweeted congratulations to Shmavonian on Wednesday.

“As one of my close advisors for 6 years, Livia worked to create opportunity for working families and I know she'll keep fighting for American workers [and] manufacturing in her new role,” tweeted the senator. 

The former and first Made in America director, Celeste Drake, is now deputy director for labor and economy at the National Economic Council.

Under Drake, the office “has played a key role in the administration’s efforts to boost domestic manufacturing,” Young said. It has “set an ambitious goal of raising the domestic content threshold for federal procurement from 55% to 75%,” increase transparency of waivers to domestic sourcing laws; established a new Made in America Council; and has worked with agencies to implement the “Build America, Buy America” provisions from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for federally funded projects.