The Richland County Board of Commissioners announces the appointments of EMA Director and JFS Director
The Richland County Board of Commissioners formally announces the selections of Rebecca Owens and Lori Bedson effective December 1, 2022. Rebecca will join the County as the Director of the Emergency Management Agency replacing Joe Petrycki who resigned earlier this year. Lori is being promoted from Interim Director to Director at Richland County Job and Family Services.
Rebecca has a long working relationship with Richland County EMA, Catholic Charities USA Disaster Relief, The Red Cross, the Richland County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), and Ohio Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (OVOAD). Rebecca served as chairperson for Richland County Organizations for Disaster Assistance (CODA) for over 10 years, leading disaster recovery efforts for the 2011 and 2014 flooding events in Richland County and the 2019 tornado in Shelby. Prior to her work with Catholic Charities, Rebecca was with Richland Newhope in a variety of capacities. She is a graduate of The Ohio State University.
Lori has over 23 years of experience with Richland County Job and Family Services. During this time, Lori has demonstrated excellence in providing diligent and caring service for the taxpayers of Richland County. Lori began her career at the agency as a social service worker in the child care unit, and she was soon promoted to Workforce Investment Act Supervisor. She later served as Program Director for WIA and was appointed Assistant Director of JFS in 2006. In August of this year, the Board appointed Lori to the position of Interim Director. Lori has done an outstanding job leading the JFS agency during this time of leadership transition.
The Board is pleased to have the experience and skills of Lori Bedson and Rebecca Owens leading two very important county agencies.