Dunn County manager announces planned summer retirement; ERP contract negotiations near completion

Dunn County’s county manager, identified in the meeting as Chris, told the Executive Committee he plans to retire later this summer after leading a period of staff stabilization and leadership development. The manager said he will provide a final date as plans firm up but indicated August as a likely timeframe.

The county manager also updated the committee on the purchase of a new finance enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. He said procurement staff—Dan, Katie and Tiffany Taggart—were meeting with prospective vendors the following day to finalize contract negotiations. The manager described two components under consideration: a timekeeping module (to address the county’s current timekeeping workload in SAP) and the core ERP finance system, and said the county was evaluating whether to launch the timekeeping piece earlier than the rest of the system.

Staff reported hope of finalizing a contract by Friday and said the timestamped goal was to improve timekeeping efficiency and reduce staff hours spent on the current system. No formal procurement vote was taken at the Executive Committee meeting; staff indicated they are negotiating terms and will return with the final contract and recommended implementation timeline.

Separately, the manager briefed the committee on upcoming items for the County Board agenda, including a budget adjustment and a resolution revising the inventory of job classifications. He said the county has had several recent staff changes and that he viewed his tenure as a bridge to strengthen leadership in key departments. "I think we've stabilized that ship, and we have some really talented leadership in the county," the manager said.

The manager’s retirement announcement was conveyed as advance notice rather than a formal personnel action. Supervisors thanked him for the disclosure and staff said they will proceed with standard succession and transition planning as needed.