Former City of Pensacola Community Development director Kevin Cowper has been selected to be the city manager for New Smyrna Beach, Fla.
He was one of the four finalists up for the position against three other former city managers from Florida and Georgia. 54 candidates applied for the city manager in total.
Previousley, Cowper served as the city manager of Dothan Ala from 2019 until this spring when the Dothan City Council voted to not renew his contract. In Dothan, he led the ambitious City Center Project,a successful $200 million plan to revitalize city’s downtown.
When Cowper left Pensacola in 2007, he took the Assistant City Manager position in Auburn, AL.
Here is the resume he gave New Smyran Beach:
KEVIN A. COWPER
PROFESSIONAL PROFILE
Dynamic professional with extensive local government executive management experience and proven record of accomplishment in:
Community Planning ? Growth Management ? Economic Development ? Redevelopment ? Neighborhood Development & Relations ? Budgeting & Financial Management ? Capital Planning & Budgeting ? Project Management ? Organizational Change & Development ? High Performing Organizations ? Strategic Planning ?
Management – Highly responsible self-starter with strong work ethic, enthusiastic attitude and excellent management skills. Decisive leader and creative problem solver with inclusive management style. Strong budgeting and financial management skills. Experienced in managing organizational change.
Communication – Persuasive communicator with well-developed presentation, facilitation, and negotiation skills. Ability to present complex information in a concise and understandable manner and to build consensus among diverse and competing interest groups. Able to develop productive relationships with elected and appointed officials, colleagues, citizens, media and staff at all levels.
Strategic Planning – Comprehensive strategic thinker with ability to see the big picture, establish goals and design specific programs and actions to produce desired results.
Leadership – Highly regarded and accomplished leader with vision and skill to lead large organization.
EXPERIENCE
City Manager – City of Dothan, Alabama. 2019 to the present.
• Currently serving as City Manager for the City of Dothan (population 71,000+), a full-service city that is the economic center of the Wiregrass Region of Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.
- Serve as the administrative head of the City and oversee all operations and programs of thirteen (13) departments with 1,376 employees (1,006 full time, 48 part time and 222 seasonal) and budgets of $300 million. The City of Dothan currently holds a bond rating of Aa2 from Moody’s and AA from S&P. The current Capital Improvement Plan includes $90 million in various projects.
- Introduced the Love Dothan initiative to focus resources on infrastructure development, growth management, public safety, downtown redevelopment, neighborhood development, economic development, customer service enhancements, employee development, communication, neighborhood relations and transparency.
Assistant City Manager / Chief Operating Officer – City of Auburn, Alabama. 2007 – 2019.
• Served as Assistant City Manager / Chief Operating Officer for the City of Auburn (population 76,000+ and home to Auburn University) overseeing approximately 800 employees in 15 departments with budgets totaling over $160 million.
- Coordinated with departments to develop annual work programs, biennial operating budgets, capital budgets, and six-year capital improvements plan. Aligned budgets with department goals, work programs and adopted plans, and evaluated assigned department directors based on results achieved.
- Oversaw capital planning program and major capital improvement projects from conception through design and construction utilizing inter-departmental project teams.
- Oversaw redevelopment activities for downtown and aged commercial corridors.
- Implemented a citywide reorganization plan including functional responsibilities and personnel to better align department resources with the City’s strategic objectives. Promoted the High Performance Organization (HPO) model as a means of improving employee and organizational performance.
Community Development Director – City of Pensacola, Florida. 2001 – 2007.
• Served as Community Development Director in the historic coastal City of Pensacola, home to
Pensacola NAS and the central city of a half-million metro area population.
• Administered all operations and directed all programs of the Community Development Department including planning, environmental, inspections, economic development and neighborhood development programs as well as the Pensacola Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA).
Director of Planning and Zoning – Baldwin County, Alabama. 1995 – 2001.
• Served as the first planning director for Baldwin County, a high growth coastal county, located on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mobile metropolitan area.
• Established the Planning & Zoning Department and all operating procedures, Drafted amendments to the County’s Planning and Zoning Enabling Legislation enacted by the State Legislature as Act No.98-665 and wrote the Baldwin County Zoning Regulations adopted by the County Commission in 1999 to manage and support sustainable growth and development.
EARLY CAREER
Planner – Shelby County, Alabama. 1991 – 1995.
Research Assistant – Regional Economic Development Center. Memphis, Tennessee. 1989 to 1991. Planning Intern – Shelby County, Alabama. June 1989 to August 1989.
Planning Intern – Mobile, Alabama. March 1988 to May 1988.
EDUCATION & TRAINING
Master of City and Regional Planning
University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee (1991).
Bachelor of Science
University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama (1988).
ICMA Emerging Leaders Development Program(2008).
Leading, Educating, and Developing Program (LEAD)
Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia (2013).
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
- Member of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) since 2000.
- ICMA Credentialed Manager (ICMA-CM) 2010-2020.
- Member of the Alabama City/County Management Association since 2007. President 2017-2018.
- Member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) since 1994 (Certificate No. 10626).
- Member of the American Planning Association since 1988.
- Member of the Urban Land Institute since 2018.
Feature Photo Licensed under the Unsplash+ License