Governor Matt Mead announced that John Cox will be the Director of the Department of Workforce Services (DWS), Bill Panos will be the Interim Director of the Department of Transportation (WYDOT), and Del McOmie will be the Director of the School Facilities Department (SFD). The DWS and SFD appointments are subject to Senate confirmation. The appointment of a permanent director for WYDOT will be made out of a slate of candidates provided by the Transportation Commission and subsequent Senate approval.
“When the Director’s job at the Department of Workforce Services came open this summer, I re-assessed the leadership we already had in-house and determined we could fill the vacancy from within,” Governor Mead said. “I believe we can optimally use existing talent and experience by making several Cabinet changes and today I announce them.”
John Cox has managed a large department with statewide reach for over a decade as DOT head and will bring his considerable administrative skills to DWS. Del McOmie, who stepped in this summer to serve as interim head of DWS, will move to SFD where his engineering background and management experience as WYDOT’s Chief Engineer will be great assets. Bill Panos brought fresh perspective and new ideas with success to SFD since joining the Cabinet in fall 2013. He will be an able Interim Director of WYDOT until a permanent director is named.
“I appreciate the opportunity the vacancy at Workforce Services has given me to take another look at the Cabinet. The agencies, state and citizens we serve all benefit from our efforts to make the executive branch even better and more effective,” Governor Mead said.
