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Griffin ready for role as new New Madrid city administrator
NEW MADRID, Mo. - Aaron Griffin is right back where he started from and couldn’t be happier.
Griffin, who grew up in New Madrid, said he has always been passionate about his hometown. After graduating from New Madrid County Central High School in 2009 and completing his political science degree from Southeast Missouri State University at Cape Girardeau in 2013, Griffin wanted to remain in Southeast Missouri. He took a job with SEMO Health Network in healthcare administration.
When the opening for New Madrid city administrator was announced, Griffin applied.
“I felt like I could be a good fit for city and I saw it as an opportunity to grow in my professional career,” Griffin said. “I felt like I had skills that I could bring back here to improve Southeast Missouri and New Madrid in particular. I wanted to help give back to this area.”
Griffin said he always had an interest in government. During his 11 years with SEMO Health Network he was able to feed that interest as he managed grants from the federal government to SEMO Health Network to meet the health needs of Southeast Missourians at clinics throughout the area.
“I have a lot of grant writing experience and a lot of grant management and grant administration experience,” Griffin said. “I have worked with a host of various local city and town governments, with state representatives and senators and with national reps and senators.”
His former job also provided experience in human resources and compliance work which Griffin said should translate well into his new position as city administrator.
In the first weeks on the job, Griffin has worked with former City Administrator Richard McGill to learn the details of the city’s operations. Together they have met with city employees and department heads, attended meetings, reviewed budgets and discussed projects underway. McGill has nothing but praise for Griffin.
“Working with Aaron, I am more convinced that he is the right choice. I always said I wanted somebody better than me and I think we got it,” McGill told the City Council recently. “Aaron has already made a lot of good relationships with people here and he is exactly what we need right now.”
Griffin said the more he learns about the Council’s vision for the community the more he believes it meshes with what he would like to see for his hometown and the region.
“I definitely want to see us bring more businesses to New Madrid. I would love to see an increase in housing. I think those go hand in hand,” he said. “I don’t want people just to work in New Madrid but I also want them to come here to worship, live and raise their families.”
Laughing Griffin acknowledged he has only been at his new job briefly but he is already looking at the future. He noted the budget has several projects he looks forward to tackling and plans to work with the city’s engineers on analyzing what projects should be considered next.
He also wants to forge relationships.
“I’m a very relationship-oriented person, so I want to be able to connect not only business to business but also to forge relationships with neighboring towns. I want to work with all of Southeast Missouri and support other towns in the area and have them support us,” he said.
The new city administrator foresees the possibility of growing tourism. Griffin noted New Madrid has a unique history which draws on a background that includes Native American history, the earthquakes of 1811-1812 which made the community’s name known nationwide, the Civil War and more.
With the town’s many historical sites, Griffin said he would like the community to become a location visitors would come to explore and spend time and money.
The son of Scott and Laura Griffin of New Madrid, Griffin and his wife, Katelynn are moving to New Madrid. Katelynn Griffin recently completed her degree in ag-business science with majors in soil science and biology and is working at the Fisher Delta Research Center at Portageville.
He said he looks forward to settling back into his hometown.
“I’m excited to be here,” he said. “I want to give back to this area and see a town that I’m very passionate and care about grow.”