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New city administrator McGuire ready to lead in Eagle Grove

EAGLE GROVE — With experience in city, county, and federal government, George McGuire, the new Eagle Grove city administrator, believes he’s ready to help lead a city that could see a large population increase in the coming years.

“Basically, I started off at the county level then federal level and back to city level,” McGuire said. “Understanding different levels of government, understanding human resources and different types of issues that come at all levels. Quite frankly, that’s why I am at the city level is because it’s the level of government where I think you can actually have the most impact on the people you serve. In federal government you are pretty removed from the folks that you actually serve.”

McGuire, a native of Algona, was hired at Eagle Grove’s City Council meeting Monday. His starting salary is $70,000.

He began his administrative duties Tuesday.

McGuire grew up on a farm near St. Joseph before attending high school at Bishop Garrigan High School in Algona.

He went on to graduate from the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls in 1989.

That same year he began his career as a Story County sheriff’s deputy.

McGuire served in that role until 2001.

In the early part of 2002, McGuire moved to North Carolina to become a security inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration and eventually the Transportation Security Administration.

“It was shortly after 9/11, the federal government started hiring a lot of people with law enforcement background,” McGuire said. “That’s when I started my job in aviation security.”

He stayed in that position until 2004 when he moved back to Iowa to start a business as a background investigator for the federal government.

“Essentially, I was a consultant for a government contractor,” McGuire said. “So I worked on investigations for the United States Office of Personnel Management, the Defense Intelligence Agency and various other governmental agencies that do background investigations.”

In 2011, McGuire graduated from Iowa State University in Ames with a master’s degree in public administration.

His first job as a city administrator was in Lake Park.

After about a year, McGuire went back to Ames for family reasons.

“I just kind of kept my eyes out for another fit for another city administrator,” McGuire said.

Eagle Grove turned out to be the fit he was looking for, he said.

“It was in a location where I wanted to be,” McGuire said. “The situation here in Eagle Grove was one that appealed to me.”

McGuire said it’s an opportunity to help Eagle Grove grow.

“I understand the trend line as far as population and economies go in this part of the state because it’s where I grew up,” McGuire said. “It’s something that is important to me because I felt like I had an excellent place to grow up as a kid. It was safe and provided solid education. It was just a good place for people to live.”

“So the trend line of losing people to larger, more metropolitan areas is something that was of concern to me,” McGuire said. “Those trend lines aren’t unique to just Wright County. They are unique to this part of the state. When I thought of Eagle Grove and the potential growth with Prestage Farms coming into the area and building their facility here and the attitude of the mayor and City Council and the people I talked to in town, who have an attitude of improving the community and making it a great place to raise a family — to just basically grow the community, it was something that appealed to me. That’s why I came here. I thought it was a good opportunity to accomplish something and I think we can, and I think we will.”

McGuire replaces Mike Boyd, who was the city administrator for six years.

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