Missouri's newest transportation commissioner says he hopes to inspire local government leaders to work with the state.
Brian Treece was sworn in Tuesday as a member of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission by Missouri Supreme Court Judge Patricia Breckenridge in the Governor's Office. The commission is a six-member board governing the Missouri Department of Transportation.
"By working together, we can extend taxpayers' dollars to do more projects for less money," Treece said.
Gov. Mike Parson appointed Treece, the former mayor of Columbia, to the commission in August along with Warren Erdman, of Kansas City. The commission maintains a partisan balance of three Democrats and three Republicans, with Treece joining as a Democrat and Erdman as a Republican.
"I was thinking, you know, put politics aside and sometimes we just talk about workforce and infrastructure and Brian's been a great leader on that," Parson said.
Parson, a Republican, said he is pleased and excited about the appointment, based on the work Treece did as Columbia mayor from 2016-22 and the relationship he maintained with the Governor's Office.
Treece said his time as a mayor showed him the value of working with people from different parties and various levels of government to get projects done. He cited projects such as the Rocheport bridge, Columbia airport terminal and cost-share agreements between the city and state as models of intergovernmental cooperation.
He said he has a genuine friendship with Parson, and he's excited to continue his career in public service.
Parson said Treece's priorities as a mayor aligned well with his infrastructure and workforce development priorities as governor. The city's rapid growth has been incredible, he said.
"To have that knowledge to be able to sit on the commission will just be an addition to making our plan even better," Parson added.
MoDOT Director Patrick McKenna said Treece is "well-prepared" for the role and he's thrilled to have him on board.
McKenna said Treece brings a new network and confidence to the commission.
"We know that we're going to be in good hands and we're going to be learning a lot from Mr. Treece and we're going to incorporate that into the department," he said.
That network includes state legislators, federal lawmakers, other mayors and county commissions Treece said he formed strong working relationships with as Columbia mayor.
"He's been an elected official," McKenna said. "I think that's really important for other elected officials to understand. He's been through it before, and he's going to help us with that."
Treece is also the vice president of strategy and development for EquipmentShare, a construction equipment rental company, and a partner at TreecePhillips, the Jefferson City based public affairs firm, since 2002.
He said he's worked in the transportation and infrastructure arena for the past 30 years, which he said has fostered a love for the work.
"It doesn't matter if we have great jobs and great schools if we don't have safe and good roads to get there," Treece said. "And that's what I want to do on the transportation commission."
Treece joins the transportation commission as it works through more funding than the department has been appropriated in recent years and a "massive" workforce shortage, McKenna said.
McKenna said construction projects are entering the home stretch this time of the year, and this year will likely total $1.3 billion in construction output, or payments to contractors for work that is done.
MoDOT's previous Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan totaled around $2.6 billion and the current multi-year plan totals about $10 billion.
That's opportunity for infrastructure and workforce development, Treece said.
"Having a greater focus on investing in our workforce by using some of these highway and construction projects to train the next generation of engineers or CDL operators or whatever it may be, there's plenty of work here over the next eight to 10 years," Treece said. "But we're going to have to, I think, incentivize that a little bit to make sure we're using that as the appropriate training opportunity."
The department's 2024 budget will be among the commission's action items for today's meeting, according to the agenda. Treece's first meeting with the commission was a closed meeting Tuesday.
McKenna said the department's primary focus right now is preparing for winter maintenance and addressing its workforce issues.
The department has lost more than 1,300 employees during the last eight months, he said, and more than 800 additional employees are needed to fully staff shifts in the event of a statewide winter storm.
The department has lost nearly 20,000 years of industry experience in the past 18 months, McKenna said.
"That's hard to handle ..." he said. "We have to transfer knowledge, we have to bring new people in and we have to get the job done for the citizens because we have some resources to get them done."
Despite recent state employee raises, McKenna said MoDOT isn't paying market rate to all employees. And the industry is in demand, he said, noting the federal infrastructure bill has workforce impacts throughout the nation.
Treece said he wants to ensure MoDOT is paying employees a competitive wage and has an established pipeline to attract new workers.
McKenna said the commission has been supportive of moves to increase pay and retain workers. It filed a lawsuit late last year seeking clarity on whether it could use a designated fund for employee raises.
Those moves, however, led state lawmakers to call for McKenna's resignation earlier this year.
Treece and Erdman replace commissioners John Briscoe and Michael Waters, who were both appointed in 2015. They each will serve six-year terms.