Greene County Development Corporation recently announced an interim director.

According to the GCDC Executive Committee, they have tabbed Michelle Book as their interim director, as they continue to make a transition to what the director’s role will look like following former director Ken Paxton’s departure at the end of May. The 1979 Jefferson High School graduate and the 2021 Tower of Fame Award Winner, Book retired as the CEO of the Food Bank of Iowa at the end of 2024 and was most recently hired by GCDC to be the facilitator of the Vision 2030 initiative, which the executive committee says will be put on hold as Book takes on the role as interim director.

GCDC President Scott Weber says they are continuing their efforts on what direction the organization wants to see for the director’s role.

“We have a great group of volunteers and we’re going to investigate multitudes of different options. We’re going to look at some alliance groups, we’re going to look at going national search for a new director, and then seeing if there’s anybody local or local partners that we can go with as well. We’re going to take our time in making a decision, and make sure that it’s best for Greene County.”   

The executive committee says GCDC is intent on finding a solution that can bring economic development success, while also maximizing the return of their member’s investment.