Erwin's new deputy town manager is prepping for the top job. Meet Melissa Greenthal.

Melissa Greenthal, recently named the eventual successor for longtime Erwin Town Manager Rita McCarthy, feels lucky that she will have the next five-plus months to learn from the woman she will replace in a key town office.

Greenthal has been appointed Deputy Erwin Town Manager. She will work closely alongside McCarthy, who has been Erwin town manager for the past 33 years, up until her official July 31 retirement, when Greenthal will become Erwin town manager.

“I feel very fortunate that I've got over five months to spend digging into Rita's past here with the Town of Erwin and learning about everything that she's done,” Greenthal said. “I'm trying to soak in as much of her knowledge as possible.”

Greenthal comes to Erwin from Alfred State College, where she was a capital construction support manager residing in the Hornell area. Greenthal said she is grateful for the opportunity and looks forward to serving the community in the Town of Erwin.

McCarthy's tenure has seen tremendous economic growth in Erwin. McCarthy believes Erwin has the right person to keep the Steuben County town moving in the right direction.

“We're excited to have Melissa,” McCarthy said. “We purposely used a consultant to ensure that we got the background and skills that we were looking for. You look at that range as you think about trying to fill a position like this.”

McCarthy said Greenthal’s education, a master’s in public administration from Northern Illinois University, and her experience in government budgeting, public works projects and procurement, make her the right person for the job.

“We're lucky to have found someone with as broad a range of education and skills as Melissa brings to the position,” McCarthy said.

‘Shaping a community’: How Erwin transformed in Rita McCarthy's 33 years as town manager

Greenthal’s journey to Erwin

Greenthal served as a grant base project manager at Northern Illinois University, dealing with all public schools within Illinois.

Following graduation, Greenthal moved to Gurnee Park District, where Six Flags Great America is located, and served as an operations analyst. She later moved to the Southern Tier and was named capital construction support manager at Alfred State College.

“While I was there, I got to learn more about New York procurement, and did capital project planning for the college,” Greenthal said. “That’s where I noticed the opportunity for town manager here in the Town of Erwin.”

Greenthal said she is excited for the opportunity to be hired in Erwin because it gets her back into serving a community directly.

“I loved being able to work with the community,” Greenthal said. “To help develop new processes, new procedures, and help them make more data informed decisions.”

This article originally appeared on The Leader: Melissa Greenthal, new Erwin deputy town manager, is learning top job