WKU alumnus Jeff Meisel (’93, ’94) promoted to manager of his hometown: Bowling Green, Ky.
By Rose Rementer
Growing up, most children don't dream of becoming the City Manager of their hometown. But, for Jeff Meisel, it’s as if the trajectory of his career path was setting him up to do just that.
“The City is not just my employer, but it’s my hometown,” Meisel explained. “I care about the future and welfare of Bowling Green, and I want to keep it a great place to live, work and raise a family.”
After graduating from WKU with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Accounting, Meisel went on to the corporate world, working for the Internal Audit Department at Fruit of the Loom, then as a CPA for Shelton and Associates and for a time as Payroll Manager in the Accounting Department of Camping World. All these jobs keeping him in his hometown of Bowling Green, which one could construe as fate.
“Around the end of 2001, the City of Bowling Green Treasurer job came open, and that really piqued my interest,” Meisel said. “I applied for that and started the job in January 2002.”
In 2006, the City leadership combined the positions of Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer to save money. This gave Meisel a promotion to CFO, a job which he kept until 2018, when a new opportunity presented itself.
“I haven’t always dreamed of becoming a City Manager, but I started considering it the last couple of years as our former City Manager, Kevin DeFebbo, who was a mentor to me, talked to me about my interest in the job since he was planning to retire,” added Meisel. “I really thought about it and decided it was something I could do, especially with my 16 years of experience in finance and my love for Bowling Green.”
Among the 40 applications and sitting through a few rounds of interviews, Meisel was offered and accepted the job as City Manager of Bowling Green. While he is easing into this new role, Meisel says he has no current plans for major change, but rather he wants to keep the momentum going.
“I know the organization, I know where we have been and what has and hasn’t worked over the years,” stated Meisel. “I feel we are in a good spot financially with our conservative approach to budgeting and projecting revenues. We have a lot of growth on the way for the City. We are projecting to have more than 70,000 residents with the next census, and we’ve got to get ready for that. We are trying to work on traffic congestion, which we are in a good financial place to manage. As I am settling into the role, I might tweak some things internally so we can better streamline our processes. I will be filling some vacancies as well, but my main focus right now is to get settled in and take it a day at a time.”
Meisel says the skills he learned on the Hill will also help him in his day-to-day functions.
“Besides my basic accounting skills, I learned how to be a better writer and how to make better presentations,” said Meisel. “WKU helped me be more comfortable getting in front of people and with public speaking, which helps me today when talking at Board of Commissioners’ meetings. I also learned how to solve problems by looking at issues from different angles and to look outside the box to search for win-win solutions.”
All in all, even though it wasn’t necessarily on his radar, becoming City Manager of Bowling Green is an opportunity Meisel is excited to grow in.
“Work hard, pay attention to details and take on extra responsibilities at work when you get the opportunity. Don’t be scared to try new tasks or projects, because that’s how you grow,” noted Meisel.