COLUMBIANA – Shelby County Manager of Development Services and Chief Development Officer Chad Scroggins has been selected as the next Shelby County Manager upon Alex Dudchock’s retirement in March 2020.

Scroggins’ appointment was approved by the Shelby County Commission at its meeting on Monday, June 24.

Commission Chairman Jon Parker said Scroggins’ experience working for the county for 16 years was an important factor in the decision.

“He understands how we run business in Shelby County, and he understands the demands of that job,” Parker said. “He was just the right person for the job.”

More than 40 applications were received for the position, Parker said, and a commission sub-committee helped narrow down the applicants.

Scroggins was identified as a top candidate and ultimately was the only person the commission interviewed, on June 10.

During his interview, Scroggins said he would like to continue the progress the county has made the last few decades.

“Being here for the past 16 years, I’ve seen a lot of our management from the inside, which is a unique perspective maybe from other candidates for this job,” he said during the interview. “I know kind of where our strengths and weaknesses are, and I have the unique ability to kind of identify those areas where we can improve and capitalize on the strengths we already have.

“Shelby County has experienced a lot of growth over the last several years, and we’ve experienced that growth because of our quality of life. I think there are some areas where we can continue to enhance some of those attributes of our county. I like the structure we have, I like to see us operate our county government kind of like a private business. I kind of have a philosophy on that, that you do run it like a private business, that you do look at return on investment and the way the budgets are managed, but also that you provide service as a ministry.”

Scroggins also said he would like to continue to update the county’s comprehensive plan, work with adjacent counties to create more workforce development initiatives, foster development within the county’s managers and department heads to ensure personnel members are matched up with their greatest attributes and improve customer service throughout the county’s government, such as strengthening online access to county services.

Scroggins has earned a master’s degree in business administration, master’s degree in environmental science, multiple professional licenses and is a certified landfill manager and landfill operator credentialed by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and the Solid Waste Association of North America.

He has served in leadership positions with Leadership Shelby County, 58 INC., Shelby 911 and CAWACO.