Meg Hibbert
Contributing writer
Dan Collins, left, is congratulated by interim Clay Goodman, on Dec. 4 after the Craig County Board of Supervisors hired Collins to be the next Craig County Administrator starting Feb. 1.
Dan Collins, the retiring administrator of the VDOT Salem Residency that includes Craig, Salem, Botetourt, Roanoke and other counties, has been hired as the new Craig County Administrator.
Collins will take over from interim County Administrator Clay Goodman on Feb. 1. His hiring was announced by the Craig County Board of Supervisors after a 30-minute closed session at the conclusion of the supervisors’ Jan. 4 meeting. Goodman will continue to serve until Collins starts work.
He will be on board in time to assist the county with budget preparations for the next fiscal year. County agencies, departments and offices are to be submitted to the county administrator’s office by Jan. 31.
Members of the Craig County Board of Supervisors mentioned that the county was fortunate to have several good applicants for the county administrator’s job, when the board initially hired Gerald Duncan on Nov. 1 to take over from Goodman. Duncan, who was also working as the elected treasurer of Giles County, resigned after saying the Craig job would take more time than he anticipated.
He worked five weeks in that position before resigning after the Board of Supervisors’ December meeting.
Collins intends to work three days a week in the part-time Craig job; he said: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays. He also said that he was looking forward to helping Craig County, and was not ready for full-time retirement.
He comes to the Craig County job after 11 years with the Virginia Department of Transportation in Salem, and a total of 29 years of experience as a local government administrator in Washington County and more recently, Martinsville.
The Craig County Administrator’s salary is listed as $40 per hour, with up to $44,000 budgeted for the 2017-18 fiscal year.
As the Martinsville City Manager, Collins had an annual salary of $113,300, and at VDOT in 2007 was paid $94,000 annually starting that first year, according to news reports.
He and his wife, Robin, live in Troutville. Dan Collins is one of the original members of Virginia Local Government Management Association.
