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Former Marion resident Andrew Keen has been named finance director for the town of Vinton.
Marion Senior High School graduate Andrew Keen has taken on the job of finance director for the town of Vinton scheduled to begin on June 27.
Keen currently works in finance for a Virginia Community Services Board offering behavioral health and substance use services, Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare (a sister CSB to Mount Rogers Community Services that services the Smyth County area).
“I value the work we do and the positive impact we are able to have on the community,” Keen said. “
With a minor in political science along with a bachelor’s degree in history, Keen said he would consider himself an accountant by trade rather than education.
“I have always had an interest in government,” he said. “I saw the advertisement (for the Vinton position) in the local paper and thought that it may be an interesting opportunity to grow my career in both finance and community service. I was interviewed and found the management team at Vinton to share many of the same ideals and professional and ethical values that I do. I believe that I will fit it well with the culture at the town of Vinton and am optimistic about Vinton’s future and being a part of it.”
Keen was born in Bristol and raised in Marion from the age of seven. He is a 2009 graduate of Marion Senior High School and graduated from Radford University with a major in history and the goal of becoming a teacher.
“After a couple of years, my career goals shifted away from teaching,” Keen said. “I was about to graduate and I did not want to change majors, therefore I held on to my history degree and hoped that I could find employment outside of education. In college, I worked for a small trucking company. That experience led me to my first job in Roanoke at Lawrence Companies. I was responsible for the operations of their flatbed fleet. I quickly found out that the aspects I enjoyed most were accounting responsibilities: payroll, rate negotiation, payables, receivables, etc. I began actively seeking a job in finance.”
“I was very lucky that the business and financial services leadership at Roanoke’s local community services board was willing to take a chance by handing over agency budgeting responsibilities to a history major with a logistics background,” said Keen. “That experience led me to two internal promotions where I eventually was overseeing half of our agency budget (roughly $17 million dollars) along with the supervision of our payroll responsibilities, our administrative support team, our contract administration and our purchasing program. My work at Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare was paramount in establishing my professional future in finance along with community service.”
Keen and his wife, Brooke, and their 2-year-old son, Bridger, live in the Fincastle area of Botetourt County area outside of Roanoke.
“We live in a wonderful neighborhood and are fortunate that my new job will be within traveling distance and won’t require relocation,” he said. “I am very lucky to have the support of my wife who has been incredibly supportive throughout this process.”
Keen has other family members in Marion.
“My mom is the executive director at the Mel Leaman Free Clinic,” he said. “They do amazing work and are such an asset to the region they serve.”
Keen said Vinton is about the size of Marion and he is looking forward to the new job.
“I am very optimistic about the job,” he said. “Municipal finance will be a slightly different concept for me; however, many of my established skills will transfer and be very beneficial to this new role.”
“There is a lot of growth going on in the town of Vinton and I am excited to be a part of the town’s progression. My duties will be overseeing the overall financial operation of the town. These duties will include: tax collection, employee payroll, Accounts payable, accounts receivable, budget development, procurement, contract administration, as well as a few other responsibilities.”
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Former Marion resident Andrew Keen has been named finance director for the town of Vinton.