Gov. Mark Dayton Tuesday named Spencer Cronk to head the Department of Administration, leaving the governor just two picks away from completing his cabinet.

Cronk is a native Minnesota and graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison but spent much of his career working outside the Midwest. According to the Dayton administration, he last worked for for New York City with the verbose title of "Executive Director of Organizational Development and Senior Advisor for the Department of Small Business Services."

The Dayton administration said he also worked in California for the National Community Development Institute and graduated from the Harvard "Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program and was a Public Affairs Fellow with the Coro New York Leadership Center."
Cronk was mentioned in a 2008 Village Voice piece about New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's record on minority hiring.

The piece said:

For his part, Donald Jackson, the former HR director, was replaced by Spencer Cronk, a 28-year-old white policy analyst without any human-resources experience, as well as a black outside consultant. The consultant was given a six-figure contract but soon departed herself, leaving the entire job to Cronk, who was given a nearly $30,000 raise. Minorities are rankled by the salaries and promotions given to Walsh insiders like Cronk and Michael Borden, a former campaign aide to Andrew Cuomo who jogs with Walsh, house-sits for him, and plays on the softball team. Borden has received $58,000 in salary hikes since joining the agency three years ago, and now is paid $108,414.

Dayton has named all his other commissioners but for the Bureau of Mediation Services and the Human Rights Commissioner.