Vance County Manager C. Renee Perry has wasted no time in posting job descriptions for several county positions that are either currently vacant or will be vacant in the next few weeks.
Perry is responsible for hiring a new budget and finance director – the previous director was terminated on Feb. 9 – and a new economic development director after outgoing director McKinley Perkinson leaves on Mar. 19.
It puts Perry in an unenviable spot of having to find new people to take important leadership roles, but she maintains a positive outlook.
“The only thing I can do is continue to recruit and look for the best candidate for each position and just hope and pray that when they come in the door they see me as a manager that wants to support them and take Vance County in a different direction,” Perry said in a recent interview with WIZS News.
The salary range for the job of economic development director is $80,076 to $104,099, according to the job posting on https://www.vancecounty.org/.
Benny Finch held that job for 25 years, but since his retirement in 2009, there have been a number of directors, each short-lived in their time with the county.
Perry said before Perkinson, “There were two or three people that didn’t stay long, so I guess my plan is just to try to get someone that wants to come here and make this home.” “It might be a little difficult…the only thing I can do is just take a chance and see how it goes – it’s definitely a revolving door.”
The salary range is a pretty healthy one, but candidates for the job should take a deep breath before taking a peek at the job description posted online: There are 14 bullet points under the heading of “Essential Job Functions” and 18 bullet points under the “Knowledge, Skills and Abilities” heading.
The ideal candidate has a four-year college degree and experience in the area of economic development.
In addition to those nuts-and-bolts skills that an effective employee needs, the economic development director also must possess those “soft skills” – think interpersonal skills, being a liaison among different groups exercising good judgment and meeting deadlines – that are so important when cultivating relationships and attracting new business.
The job description states that the economic development director works under the “general direction” of the county manager and economic development board.
Perry said as she seeks to fill the vacancies, she’ll be building a strong team to move the county forward.
“I’m hopeful that, with my leadership, things will be different…I just know that I’m looking at the end goal with making Vance County great. It’s already good – we’re just going to make it better.”
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