(Christopher Gannon/Iowa State University)

Since the end of September, ISU Extension and Outreach of Dallas County has been without a dedicated executive director, though that has been by design as the organization has kicked in a large overhaul of its structure.

Extension has begun to phase out specific county directors in favor of regional directors, and they recently announced that Ann Torbert will fill that role for Dallas County. She has worked in Linn County for the last 20 years as a 4-H youth program specialist, and prior to that she worked for Mahaska County Extension, as well as the Extension programs of Oklahoma State University and the University of Wisconsin. Torbert’s new position is a unique one, as under the new ISU Extension structure, Dallas will be the only county she serves.

She takes over the region from Interim Director Jerry Chizek, who explains the importance of having a dedicated director for the County. “With the continued growth of Dallas County, it’s important that we have strong leadership right there within the County. And secondly, just that opportunity for this new person to build relationships locally I think will be enormous for the County. Building relationships, networking; that’s really what Extension’s about, and so I’m excited to bring this new person on board!”

Chizek will continue serving as interim director through the end of May, and Torbert will officially take over starting June 1st. The restructuring of Extension will take effect July 1st, with 27 regions each served by a regional director. Polk, Story, and Dallas counties will be the only one-county regions in the state.