Show Notes: Brent Buerck: Small-Town Roots, World-Class Vision Episode 161 of The HaltingWinter Podcast

Overview In this episode of the HaltingWinter Podcast, Seth Winterhalter interviews Brent Buerck, City Administrator of Perryville, Missouri. Brent shares his journey from growing up in Perryville to returning as its city administrator after 15 years with the Missouri Division of Youth Services. Through his leadership, Perryville has weathered multiple natural disasters while developing unique attractions and strong economic opportunities. Their conversation explores the value of relationship-building in municipal leadership, practical approaches to disaster response, and the delicate balance between professional impact and personal life.

Episode Highlights:

• Hometown Leadership: How Brent's deep connection to Perryville has shaped his approach to city administration and his commitment to telling its story
• Crisis Management Mastery: Navigating multiple major disasters - a 2017 EF4 tornado, 2023 ice storm, and 2023 EF3 tornado - and applying lessons from each to improve response time
• Community Collaboration: Building essential relationships between city, county, and regional partners to achieve greater impact together
• Economic Development Success: Transforming Perryville into a community with more jobs than people, including growing TG Missouri from 30 employees to 1,700+
• Unique Attractions: Developing distinctive community assets like the American Tractor Museum, Vietnam Wall replica, and the Miraculous Medal shrine
• Volunteer Management: Coordinating community response during disasters and the importance of being prepared to receive volunteer help
• The Municipal Leadership Philosophy: "If we're doing our job correctly, nobody should even know we're there" - success means invisibility
• Work-Life Integration Challenges: Candid reflections on the struggle to balance family commitments with the demands of city leadership
• The Value of Intentional Relationships: Not delegating relationship-building and being deliberate about bringing conflicting groups together

Connect with Brent Buerck:

• LinkedIn: Connect with Brent Here

Connect With Seth Winterhalter

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sethwinterhalter
• Website: www.HaltingWinter.com

About HaltingWinter Municipal Solutions: At HaltingWinter, our mission is to build stronger cities through stronger leaders by providing municipal leadership development services, rooted in the ABCs of Impactful Leadership framework. To explore how we can strengthen you and your municipality, visit haltingwinter.com.

Upcoming Events: Don't miss Seth Winterhalter at the Missouri City and County Managers Association Spring Conference at the Margaritaville Resort. Register now at www.momanagers.org/191/Spring-Conference.

The MLDC  The Municipal Leadership Development Circle (MLDC) is a community for city managers and administrators from around the country to find support personally and professionally as they lead thriving teams and communities. We're giving podcast listeners 20% off your subscription with a 7-day FREE trial to make sure it's the right fit for you. Visit the link below and use the coupon code "PODCAST" when you register today! --> JOIN HERE