Callaway County Presiding Commissioner Gary Jungermann was named last week to Missouri's Workforce Development Board.
"It's an honor for me to (join the board)," Jungermann said.
According to jobs.mo.gov, the board represents a wide variety of individuals, businesses and organizations throughout the state. The mission of the Missouri Workforce Development Board is to engage employers, education providers, economic development and other stakeholders to help the workforce development system achieve the purpose of Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and the state's strategic and operational vision and goals.
Part of that role involves receiving federal funding through the state and allocating it toward various regions of Missouri to be used for education, training and other workforce development efforts, Jungermann said.
"I'm small government's voice on that board, and everyone knows where my heart is," Jungermann said.
He added his appointment likely has to do with the time he's spent as the Central Workforce Development Region's chairman for the caucus of elected officials. The CWDR includes 19 Mid-Missouri counties, including Callaway County.
Allyssa Miget, policy director for the MWDB, confirmed Jungermann's theory in an email Wednesday.
"The State Workforce Development Board needed another local elected official, and with Gary's experience with the Central Workforce Development Board as Commissioner, he was a great fit for the State Workforce Development Board," she wrote.
Jungermann's appointment was finalized Sept. 28. He will attend his first meeting with the state board in November.
"It does excite me," he said. "Good employees, getting them educated and getting them ready to go to work, are important."