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The Freeborn County Board of Commissioners heard presentations Tuesday from three separate firms about proposals to lead the search for the next county administrator. 

During a workshop, representatives from DDA Human Resources Inc., GovHR USA and South Central Service Cooperative presented how they would conduct the search and the costs that would be involved in the process. 

The commissioners are seeking a new administrator after the resignation of former Administrator Tom Jensen last month. Jan Fransen has been hired as an interim until a new permanent administrator is hired. 

Liza Donabauer with DDA Human Resources said the Minnesota-based company has served cities and counties for over 20 years, expanded its scope to provide executive recruitment in 2013 and has provided executive search services to over 100 cities and counties in the state. She said in the 5 1/2 years she had worked with the company she had completed a half dozen searches for counties and about 40 for cities. 

She said the approach the company would take would be to find the right fit for the county and would start out by coming in and meeting with the commissioners, department heads and stakeholders to find out what is important to the county and use that information to advertise for the position. 

The tentative timeline called for the board approving a job profile, description and salary range Aug. 23, and then the firm gathering applications and reaching out to prospective candidates through Sept. 21. 

DDA reviews and ranks applicants based on job-related criteria and selects eight to 12 semifinalists, who also go through a work-related personality index and video interview. 

By Oct. 18, the board would select three to five finalists for interviews, and DDA would conduct extensive background and reference checks. Finalist interviews would be Nov. 9, with the new administrator potentially starting in December. 

Donabauer said the company offers a two-year guarantee, in which the company will pay to conduct another search if the candidate does not work out with the county in that time frame.

It searches for candidates not only locally and at the state level but across the nation. 

The fees for the search through DDA Human Resources are about $22,000 and includes all of the elements of the search, with the exception of travel costs for candidates.

Charlene Stevens, senior vice president with GovHR, said she is based out of Cottage Grove but the firm is out of Illinois. It has completed over 800 searches since 2009. 

Stevens said the company is women-led, and its recruitment process generally takes 90 to 120 days. 

She said the firm would also start out with interviewing board members and other stakeholders to put together a recruitment profile to market not only the position but the community as well. The company would advertise locally, regionally and nationally and is committed to diversity. 

According to the company’s proposal, GovHR makes extensive use of social media as well as traditional outreach methods to find candidates. Its website is well known in the local government industry with more than 14,000 visits monthly to the website and career center, with weekly jobs listings sent to over 7,000 subscribers. 

The company would narrow down the candidates to those who meet the qualification criteria and evaluate them through a questionnaire, live video interview, references and internet and social media search. 

The company would present a report with the credentials of the most qualified candidates. It conducts initial background screening along with additional references contacted, and first-round interviews would include four to five candidates. Second-round interviews would include two to three candidates, and more in-depth background screening would bee conducted. 

The proposal included an appointment of a candidate after 13 or 14 weeks. 

She referenced the company’s commitment to the profession, depth of experience, communication and transparency. 

Fees for the search through GovHR USA are $19,500 for a base fee, $1,500 for recruitment expenses, up to $2,500 for advertising, and $100 to $500 for candidate personality indexes. The cost does not include any costs the county might have for travel expenses for the candidates. 

It offers a one-year guarantee with the county paying only the cost of expenses and announcements if a second search is needed. 

Mike Humpal, manager of local government solutions with the South Central Service Cooperative, said he has over 30 years of local government experience and spent 25 years in the city of Fairmont. 

The South Central Service Cooperative does a lot of work with school districts, and its local government solutions division is relatively new after seeing a need for the service in the region.

He said the cooperative’s search process is straightforward and simple and said though it is a smaller company, its search would be just as wide as the other companies. While it will pick up candidates from all over, it will generally focus on Minnesota and the surrounding states of Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois. 

It would meet with the county board and staff to create a profile for the position, as well as a set of goals, and create a search calendar and timeline. 

Then it would move forward with recruiting candidates and processing applications, paring down the applications to five who would all be guaranteed to have the skill set needed for the job. He said the company advertises through the same outlets as the other companies and on social media. The board would interview four candidates, with one serving as a backup in the event one drops out, and it could coordinate a public meet-and-greet of candidates as well. 

Its selection process would include full applicant reviews, assessment of candidates for management and leadership, as well as backgrounds and reference checks. The cooperative would provide preliminary and final screening and make recommendations for the interview of candidates, assist with the interview process, meet with the board to facilitate their decision and develop a contract for the position as needed. He anticipated having someone in the position by mid- to late November. 

Fees for the search through the cooperative were $11,150 and included all costs, except for travel costs for candidates. It provides a two-year guarantee with no additional fees. 

Humpal said he had conducted nine searches himself since March 2021. 

Following the presentations, 1st District Commissioner Brad Edwin asked if anybody had worked with any of the firms before. 

Fransen and Human Resources Director Candace Pesch said they had both worked with DDA Human Resources. Pesch said the firm was very thorough.

Second District Commissioner Dan Belshan said he leaned toward South Central Service Cooperative because it was developed by people who saw a need. 

The commissioners decided to continue the discussion when all of the commissioners were present. Commissioners Ted Herman and Chris Shoff were not in attendance.