Montgomery County, TN – Andrew Kester has been selected as Montgomery County’s Director of Continuous Improvement. This position is new to the County and is responsible for designing and overseeing the activities of the County’s performance management program in support of Montgomery County Mayor Wes Golden’s top priorities and departmental strategic initiatives.
Kester will be responsible for developing the County’s performance management processes and providing guidance and assistance to County departments.
Kester is a retired Army First Sergeant who has served as the Director of the Montgomery County Veterans Service Organization since 2019. Under his leadership, MCVSO earned national and state recognition for their service to Veterans.
Kester has also served as a Leadership Studies Adjunct Professor at Western Kentucky University since 2015. He served as Radiologic Technology Instructor at Austin Peay State University (APSU) and an Educational Coordinator and Applications Trainer at MinXray Inc. for five years after retiring from the Army in 2010.
Kester earned his Ed.D.(Organizational Leadership) from Western Kentucky University KY in 2017; his M.S. (Health Education) from Touro University, Cypress, CA, in 2008; a B.S. (Health Care Management) from National American University, Rapid City, SD, in 2006 and his A.A.S. (Medical Imaging) from Thomas Edison State College, Trenton, NJ in 2004.
“The Continuous Improvement position is one that I feel strongly about. This position will help us align our personnel and budgetary resources in a way that serves the community even better. We know this has proved successful for the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System and look forward to great results for the County. Andrew’s education, expertise, and knowledge will help us achieve our priorities. His systematic, data-driven approach served our VSO well, and we look forward to him incorporating that approach on a larger scale,” said Mayor Golden.
“It is an honor to be selected for this position in service to Montgomery County, Mayor Golden, and our department heads in this new role. I am excited about the change, but it is also bittersweet because I love leading MCVSO. It is time for me to practice what I preach to my team. I tell them to grow and make the most of their experience and skills, and it’s time for me to do the same,” said Kester.
Kester has called Montgomery County home since 2008. He has been married to his wife Debra for 31 years. They have two children. Kyle a 1LT stationed at Fort Campbell and Jenna a sophomore at APSU.
Among the Director of Continuous Improvement’s key responsibilities are:
- Develop metrics and targets as defined by the Mayor and Department heads to establish priorities, goals, objectives and measures to track and evaluate performance.
- Conducts and oversees organizational reviews to identify strengths and weaknesses and to evaluate operational effectiveness.
- Coordinates performance management sessions between the Mayor’s Office and departmental leadership using data-driven analysis to discuss performance, identify problems, diagnose causes and invest resources to solve issues affecting performance and achievement of the Mayor’s highest priorities as well as key organizational and departmental initiatives.
- Partners with Accounts and Budget staff to identify opportunities for organizational performance reviews of County operations with the greatest potential financial, strategic or operational impact.
- Conducts management performance analysis for departmental operations to improve work methods, set standards and increase the effectiveness of County operations.
- Develops and implements countywide performance management process, which focuses on monitoring and reporting activities.
For information about Montgomery County Government, visit mcgtn.org.
