‘I’m glad to be here,’ says City Manager Joe Stremcha

“I’m excited for the leadership opportunity to work with the community,” says Springfield’s new city manager, Joe Stremcha, who began work here on October 1.

A rookie in public administration, Stremcha can lean on his coaching skills in public administration where teamwork and goal setting are important qualities, and his sales experience will be helpful in public relations, leadership, project management, budgeting and finance.  

The past two years, Stremcha worked for RITALKA, Inc., a privately held small business holding  company based in Montevideo and, as a parent corporation, covers a number of businesses under its purview. Stremcha was an account executive in its RVI Division, a service provider for electronics partnered with companies in countries around the globe.  He worked in a sales position with clients in various cities, traveling to both the East and West Coasts each quarter as well as in other countries such as Canada and Costa Rica.

Growing up in a family with a father in the military service, Stremcha lived in various places, and resided in Lino Lakes during high school. He graduated from Centennial High, the hub for the five communities of  Blaine, Centerville, Circle Pines, Lexington and Lino Lakes.  He attended Southwest State University in Marshall where he studied political science and public administration.  While attending college he worked concurrently in multiple roles within the community including The Marshall-Lyon County library, The Marshall Area YMCA, interning within the City of Marshall’s Community Services Depart-ment, and coaching within the Marshall Amateur Hockey Association.  He has coached hockey teams from the mini mites up through high school.

“I’m excited for the opportunity to partner with the community to promote economic development,” he said. “From my experiences I can see how rural communities can compete on a global scale and how out-of-town dollars can support the local economy.”

See full story in this week's edition of the Springfield Advance-Press.