Joe Libby

After months of discussion hinging around what to do following the retirement of Joe Cercone, executive director of the County Development Commission/Economic Development Commission (CDC/EDC), the Presque Isle County Board of Commissioners decided to move forward with hiring a county resource officer. Last Wednesday evening they took another step forward by selecting Joe Libby to take that position. The newly-created county resource officer will take on some of the duties handled by Cercone in the past as well as be a point person for the county.

“It’s a new position, we are all just taking baby steps and we were looking for a person who has the personality to interact with the elected officials and department heads without overbearance,” said commissioner Stephen Lang, member of the personnel committee. Lang and Bob Schell made up the personnel committee charged with hiring someone to fill the position. They reviewed 22 applications for the position before narrowing those down and conducting three 45-minute interviews. Wednesday night they recommended the board hire Libby and a roll call vote was unanimous to follow that recommendation. “All of them were very qualified. It was a tough decision but with Joe’s (Libby) background and familiarity with the county we just thought he was the best fit at this time,” said Schell.

Lang said the recommendation came after much deliberation as they examined the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate as well as their knowledge of the county, past experience and how they felt they would get along with the others in the county building. Libby will take an office on the third floor for now until things get settled with some other offices moving to the former Nowicki building and some shuffling within the courthouse. The position is a contracted position for about 30 hours per week with a salary in the mid-$30,000 per year range. Key responsibilities will include representing the county in economic development matters, managing some county operations and assisting clerk Sue Rhode in day-to-day work as directed by the board. “Thank you for your confidence. I will give it my best and with a little patience from all of you I would expect you will be very pleased. I will work hard,” said Libby after he was formally given the job.

Libby officially started Monday and began meeting all the different people in the courthouse and getting his feet wet reading documents in the county economic development office. Many responsibilities were listed in the job description drafted by the commissioners. Libby really sees his job as two-pronged; one part is serving as the director of economic development through the CDC/EDC and the other is assisting in the day-to-day management of county activities, projects and other business pertaining to the county. Libby already has a few projects he will be working on including looking into getting Wi-Fi in the courthouse building, updates to maps and upgrades for the 9-1-1 system.

“I wanted the challenge. This is a new position and it is what you make of it. It is very interesting and I am looking forward to working with different department heads, boards, cities, townships and villages. Tourism is a part of it that I am looking forward to as well, as I have a background in that,” said Libby. Libby has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and management from Ferris State University, is a past director of the county’s tourism council, was on the Hillman Village Council, served as a zoning administrator and served on many economic development committees and has worked with many other organizations involved in economic development.

Born and raised in Hawks, Libby attended Rogers City High School and now resides in Onaway. He is looking forward to his new position with the county. “Things are going well so far. I have been spending my time getting a background into what has transpired in the last few years in regards to economic development. I have toured the facilities and met the department heads in the buildings,” said Libby.