City of Loveland Narrows City Manager Candidate Choices, Hosts Public Meet-and-greet

 The City of Loveland is hosting a public meet-and-greet on Wednesday, Oct. 2, from 6-8 p.m., at the Forge Event Center, 815 14th St SW Bldg. B100, with two candidates who have been identified as finalists for its City Manager position.

Bob Cowell, Jr., former City Manager of the City of Roanoke, Virginia, and Jim Thompson, current City Manager of the City of Scottsdale, Arizona, are the two top candidates identified during a nationwide search that began earlier this year. Doors for the public meet-and-greet open at 5:30 p.m., with a facilitated panelist presentation at 6 p.m. Public input will be collected during the in-person portion of the event.

Bob Cowell, Jr.

Bob Cowell, Jr., has more than 30 years of municipal experience, most recently serving seven years as City Manager for the City of Roanoke, Virginia. Prior to that, he served four years as Deputy City Manager in Amarillo, Texas. Cowell is an ICMA Credentialed Manager, a Certified Urban Planner through AICP, and an Accredited Member of the Congress for the New Urbanism. In Roanoke, Cowell provided leadership in the development and implementation of community investments exceeding $500 million from 2017 through 2024. He also led the creation of the City’s first Strategic Plan, amended the City’s budget process to one that is program-based with greater emphasis on equitable outcomes, and he was responsible for an annual budget of over $379 million. Under Cowell’s leadership, Roanoke was the first community in the Nation inducted into the National Civic League’s All-America City Hall of Fame and this year, recipient of its 8^th All-America City designation. Cowell earned a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Tennessee and a bachelor’s degree from St. Louis University.

Jim Thompson

Jim Thompson has more than 35 years of municipal leadership experience, 28 of which includes City Manager experience. He has multiple professional affiliations, which extend beyond the International City/County Management Association, Federal Emergency Management Agency, International Municipal Clerks Association, and Government Finance Officer Association. Among Thompson’s recent credentials as City Manager for the City of Scottsdale, Thompson helped implement priority-based budgeting to ensure the budget was tied to the value of services and programs. He negotiated multiple new economic development projects including Axon International Headquarters, Nationwide, and Mack Industrial Park, Choice Hotels International Headquarters, and many other projects of different sizes and benefits to the community and was responsible for a $2.3 billion annual budget. Thompson earned his Master of Business Administration from Regis University in Denver, and he also has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Indiana University, in addition to completing several government-related credential programs.

Both candidates have experience managing communities of equal or greater population to the City of Loveland.

The City of Loveland has been working with GovHR, a nationally recognized leader in executive recruitment services for local governments and any action related to the selection of a candidate will be posted on an upcoming council agenda for a formal appointment of the position.

Since earlier this year, Deputy City Manager Rod Wensing has been filling the position of Acting City Manager and City Council participated in candidate interviews last week.

The public meet-and-greet will also be shared via live stream at youtube.com/CityofLoveland. The video will also be available on demand starting Thursday, Oct. 3 at lovgov.org/VOD.

For future updates on the City of Loveland’s recruitment process and other news, visit the City’s website at lovgov.org/CityNews.