Governor Names Acting Commissioner for Labor Department

Friday, March 6, 2020 | 0

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock on Thursday appointed Brenda Nordlund as acting commissioner of the state Department of Labor and Industry.

Brenda Nordlund

Nordlund served as administrator of the Unemployment Insurance Division at DLI for the last five years. She led the first update to the state’s unemployment claim module and implemented a federal Treasury Offset Program to recoup UI benefit overpayments and unpaid contributions.

Nordlund worked at the Department of Justice for 20 years before joining the labor department. While at the Department of Justice she held positions including administrator of the Motor Vehicle Division and assistant attorney general.

She also served in positions at the Montana Department of Administration, the Montana Human Rights Bureau and began her career in state government as a law clerk at the Montana Supreme Court.

Nordlund holds a leadership position in the National Association of State Workforce Agencies as chair of the Unemployment Insurance Integrity Center Steering Committee.

She will succeed Tom Lopach, who served as the interim commissioner of the Department of Labor and Industry.