Shawn Milne has now joined the ranks of Cache County officials as economic development director. He was formerly a county commissioner in Tooele County charged with overseeing economic development and tourism efforts.

CACHE COUNTY – Cache County’s new economic development director is now on the job.

Although County Executive Craig Buttars formally introduced Shawn Milne to members of the Cache County Council during their final meeting of the year on Tuesday, the panel’s members were previously acquainted with the new employee.

Milne recently resigned from the post of commissioner in Tooele County and had also served as chairman of the Utah Association of Councils and Commissioners. His previous experience includes being a small business owner, a member of the Tooele City Council and serving on the Tooele Redevelopment Agency.

“I’m really looking forward to this opportunity,” Milne told the council members, referring to his new responsibility as the county’s economic development director. “I think you’re ripe for continued great success in terms of economic development. I consider it a big honor and a big responsibility to ensure that it stays that way.”

Buttars said that Milne assumed his new post on Dec. 7.

“I’ve already spent quite a bit of time with him,” the county executive added. “Shawn has a good feel for our community and our county. We’ve been working on some benchmarks that we can use to determine the success of this new position and achieve what we want to see happen.”

Milne confessed that he has been “playing tourist” over the past couple of weeks to get acquainted with Cache Valley, which he called a “wonderful community” and “a great place to get to know.”

Milne is a 2001 graduate of Westminster College. He settled in Tooele shortly after that to start a small business that installed residential and commercial audio, home theater, phone and security systems.

After gaining experience with economic development efforts while serving on the Tooele City Council and the Tooele City Redevelopment Agency, Milne joined the Tooele County commission in 2013. As a commissioner, his assignments included overseeing that county’s economic development and tourism activities.

Milne told the council members that he believes those public service roles had trained him well to meet the challenges of his new economic development position.

“So, I hope to do you proud,” Milne said, concluding his brief remarks Tuesday. “I also intend to prove that my hiring was a worthwhile investment of your resources.”

In his new role, Milne will work with an 11-member panel appointed in June to serve as the county’s economic development advisory board.

Appointment of that board was the first step toward Cache County’s participation in Utah’s new Rural County Grant Program.



Source link