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Burgum taps former Wyoming official to lead North Dakota DOT

Bill Panos photo.jpg
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum selected Bill Panos as the state's new Department of Transportation director Friday, Aug. 16, 2019. Photo provided by Burgum's office.

BISMARCK — Wyoming's former transportation director is leaving his new job as a Chicago-area county administrator to lead the North Dakota Department of Transportation, Gov. Doug Burgum announced Friday, Aug. 16.

Bill Panos will start in North Dakota Oct. 21. He'll succeed Ron Henke, who served as interim DOT director after Tom Sorel resigned in April. Sorel, who had been on the job for less than two years, said he was stepping down for family reasons.

The DOT has a total two-year budget of $1.4 billion and nearly 1,000 full-time positions. Panos will earn an annual salary of $172,400, according to Burgum's spokesman.

Panos was Wyoming's DOT director from 2015 until earlier this year, when a new governor appointed a fresh agency head. He previously served as director of that state's Department of School Facilities.

Panos' resume includes stints at state and local governments in California, Washington state and Massachusetts, as well as in the private sector. He currently works as county administrator in Lake County, Ill., a post he was appointed to July 9.

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Sandy Hart, who chairs the county board, said Panos was "working out great" in his new role and county leaders are "very sorry to see him go." In an interview, Panos called the North Dakota job "a really good fit for me."

"I met Gov. Burgum and really connected with his vision for the state and his focus on improving the economy, enhancing the use of technology and just creating a better place to live and work for the families of North Dakota," he said. "It was really the place and the governor that attracted me to North Dakota."

Burgum's spokesman Mike Nowatzki said the governor isn't concerned that Panos would quickly leave North Dakota, citing the several years he spent in Wyoming.

Burgum, a Republican, said in a statement that Panos "brings a wealth of experience as a transformational leader for large-scale organizations, with a career spanning city, state, university and private-sector roles."

A California native, Panos received a bachelor's degree in forensic science from California State University at Long Beach.

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