Writer: Al Hackle
Published April 20, 2021
Statesboro Herald
Tuesday was Assistant County Manager Andy Welch’s last day working for the Bulloch County government, after almost 21 years, and the day began with a meeting of his now former employers, the Board of Commissioners.
Welch is scheduled to start Monday in his new job as the first-ever county manager in Tooele County, Utah. Tooele, pronounced “Too-el-ah,” is also the name of the county’s seat and largest town. Tooele County’s population, 72,259 by a 2019 U.S. Census estimate, is similar to Bulloch County’s 79,608. But the Utah county, in the valley west of the one occupied by Salt Lake City and the Great Salt Lake, encompasses a land area more than 10 times as large as Bulloch.
“We’re moving to be close to the family, but I’ll be the first county manager there,” Welch said. “They only have three county managers in the whole state.”
But then, Utah, which is geographically larger, has just 29 counties, compared to Georgia’s 159. Tooele County previously was administered by three commissioners but recently changed to a five-member county council. The council has had an interim manager working since Jan. 1, Welch said, but he will be the first in the permanent job.
He grew up in Utah and attained his college degrees, including a Master of Public Administration, at Brigham Young University.
He arrived in Georgia about 25 years ago and had served as a research assistant at the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government before being hired by the Bulloch County government in October 2000. At first he was officially the county planner, over the Building and Zoning Department.
Although formally appointed assistant county manager about eight years ago, he had in effect already been serving in that capacity, and reporting directly to the county manager, since soon after he was hired.
Throughout his tenure, Welch has helped with many of the county’s technology needs, working with contracted providers, in the absence of an information technology department. Just a month ago, Welch, teamed with two other county staff members and the software application provider MyCivic, launched MyBulloch, a county services app available to the public.
Consulting with the county’s finance staff and County Manager Tom Couch, Welch has provided the Board of Commissioners regular updates on the county’s financial status and projects.
Tuesday, the commissioners presented Welch a framed resolution expressing appreciation for his services to the county. The county staff had held a reception for him last week.
“This has been a great place to live and raise a family, and I’ll miss it,” Welch said after Tuesday’s meeting. “This is very bittersweet for me. I love what I do, I love the people I work for, but it was the right move for me professionally and for our family.”
Welch and his wife, Kristi, and her mother, who lives with them, and the Welches’ 12-year-old son will be moving to Tooele, and their twin daughters who are graduating from Statesboro High School this year will be going to college in Utah in the fall. Welch has two adult children, also Statesboro High graduates, who live in Utah and Idaho.
Couch arrived as county manager 17 years ago, so Welch preceded him in the county’s administration. They became close friends and shared views of how a county government should operate.
“As an only child, he’s like the brother I never had. …,” Couch said. “We were just so together on so many levels personally and professionally. We’re going to miss him, but you know, it’s a wonderful opportunity for him and his family, and we only say goodbye with love.”
Welch gave a month’s notice, but the county has not advertised the job opening yet. Couch said he is considering moving someone up within the county administration on a trial basis rather than immediately recruiting an assistant manager.
