Fentress County Hires New Finance Director

The Fentress County Commission hired a new Finance Director on Thursday.

County Executive J. Michael Cross said the commission unanimously agreed to hire Tyler Arms.

“We had a reconvened Finance Committee meeting last Wednesday and they voted to hire Tyler Arms who formerly was with, I think Union Bank and Fitzgerald’s Trucking,” Cross said. “And then we had a reconvened County Commission meeting last Thursday. They confirmed unanimously to hire Tyler Arms as Finance Director for Fentress County.”

The Fentress County Finance Committee originally received twelve applications for the position. Cross said the committee narrowed the search to five or six candidates to have interviews.

Cross said the commission decided to hire Arms because of his credentials and enthusiasm.

“He is young, energetic, very professional, has a great finance background, will bring some enthusiasm,” Cross said. “And I think kind of restore the trust and everything back into that department.”

Cross said he feels excited to have a fresh face for the new Finance Director.

“I think he will be very innovative about modernizing the department where we may have been a little stagnant before,” Cross said. “So I think a great hire for the county. He will do a great job.”

Fentress County began the search for a new Finance Director after the Commission fired Marsha Delk in June. Delk gave unapproved raises in 2015 and 2016 that went undiscovered until this year.

Cross said he hopes the new finance director can bring a sense of professionalism to the committee again.

“Well, moving forward, you know we had obviously some things that probably could have been improved upon from a PR standpoint, from a management standpoint before, or you know we wouldn’t be in this mess,” Cross said. “So we are looking for a return to open transparent government.”

Fentress County can now continue the 2018-2019 budget process.