Mayor Ben McAdams and Salt Lake County Chief Financial Officer Darrin Casper announced today that Rod Kitchens has been chosen as the county’s new director of planning and budget. He replaces Lance Brown, who retired in May, after 20 years in that position.
“Our ability to deliver on operating this $1 billion enterprise in a fiscally responsible manner requires strong leadership in the county’s finance division. I’m pleased that we’ve gained someone like Rod with an extensive financial planning background,” said McAdams.
CFO Casper said Kitchens was most recently the director of financial planning and analysis with American Express. In that job, he led a team of three managers and two analysts located in Salt Lake City, New York and India, responsible for international payment options. Casper said that as director of Finance Operations with American Express, Kitchens and his team helped operations drive 22 percent annual cost reductions for some American Express products.
“Rod knows how important it is to collaborate, which is critical to our work in Mayor’s Finance,” said Casper. “His years of experience with financial planning and analysis will be a great asset to our entire team, since we are committed to maintaining our Triple A bond rating and operating according to the highest financial transparency standards.”
“I’m excited and honored for the opportunity to join the Mayor’s Finance team and to help drive a strong budgeting process in a county that embraces fiscal responsibility and innovative solutions to providing effective and efficient services,” said Kitchens.
Casper said Kitchens holds a BS in Accounting and an MBA from the University of Utah. Kitchens will start on July 20th.
