Cascade, Idaho – Valley County is pleased to announce a new Director of Human Resources, Mike Savoie. Savoie will take the reigns from Pat Duncan who announced her retirement this spring. 

Duncan started with Valley County in 2012 as a consultant and eventually applied for and was selected to be the internal Director of Human Resources in 2017. “I love helping people,” says Duncan. “I love helping organizations be successful.” But she says a big key to her time at Valley County was working together and being a part of a team effort. One of the things that Duncan has worked toward with other department heads and elected officials is putting hiring processing in place at the County. “Creating those processes and procedures to help managers make sure they are hiring the best people for their departments has been really rewarding.”

One of the programs Duncan is most proud to have helped build is the Leadership Program. “This is a program,” she says, “that anyone can be a part of at the County.” One track is for emerging leaders who want to get training and learn skills to move into leadership positions, and one track is for elite leaders who are already in leadership roles and want to continue to learn and grow. Participants go through leadership training sessions, roundtable brainstorming, behavior style assessments, and can be paired with a mentor. “It is such a fun program,” says Duncan. “I am excited to watch how it continues to grow in the future.”

And while Duncan says she will miss the work and the people, she is looking forward to spending more time with her grandchildren and having the time to focus on home projects and crafts. “And camping on a Tuesday,” says Duncan. 

One of the main reasons she is looking forward to retirement is also knowing that the County is in great hands with Savoie at the HR helm. “He is the perfect successor as far as I am concerned,” says Duncan. “Mike is going to do such an amazing job. It makes retiring easy knowing I don’t have anything to worry about.” 

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