Thomas Westphal is the Managing Director of the Dortmund Economic Development Agency. After training as an administrative officer in the public service in Lübeck, studying economics at the Hamburg School of Economics and Politics and working as a business and regional consultant, he worked as sales manager at the Rhenus AG in Holzwickede, as managing director of Business Development at Wincanton AG in Mannheim and as managing director of the Regional Economic Development Agency of the Ruhr Area before taking over the management of his current position in Dortmund in October 2013.