Halifax entrepreneur and lawyer Jeff Larsen has joined the Nova Scotia Department of Economic and Rural Development and Tourism as the Executive Director of Investment and Trade.

Until last month, Larsen had been an associate with McInnes Cooper in Halifax, and before that was Vice-President of Business Development and General Counsel at Seaforth Engineering Group Inc. and Seaforth Energy Inc.

The appointment is worth notice at the broadest level because it is great to have people from the private sector joining the government, especially in the formulation of economic policy. As well as his time with Seaforth, Larsen has worked with the investment company Clarke Inc. and CIBC Asset Management, so he brings a broad range of perspectives to the post.

What’s also interesting is that Larsen, with his background at green energy firm Seaforth Energy, is taking up the position at a time when the Nova Scotia government is striving to increase investment in cleantech in the province. As a lawyer with experience inside such a business, Larsen should help to develop policies needed to grow the sector.

Nova Scotia in the past year or so has already announced the creation of a $24 million cleantech fund, and last month launched the CleanTech Open, a $300,000 contest for clean tech companies, opened to entrepreneurs anywhere in the world as long as they establish a business in Nova Scotia.