On the Edges

Director of finance and administration hired

The city of Republic has created a new position, director of finance, and has hired Chris Eldridge of Springfield for the job. Eldridge has worked for the past year as an administrative intern for the city administrator while working on his master's degree in public administration at Southwest Missouri State University. He begins work Sept. 20. His duties include coordinating the finance and administration functions for the city, reviewing human-resource issues, budget preparation, employee training programs, overseeing employee benefit programs and coordinating the efforts with the municipal judge regarding the general operation of the court system. Eldridge has bachelor's degrees in public administration and political science from SMSU and will receive a master's degree in December.