The Kennebec Valley Council of Governments (KVCOG) board of directors has selected Ole Amundsen III as Executive Director. Amundsen assumed this new role on January 4, 2021.

KVCOG is a nonprofit organization serving 62 municipalities in Somerset, Kennebec, and western Waldo counties. It provides a coordinated approach for planning and economic development at the local and regional level and has been a leader in economic development, environmental, land use, and transportation planning with a wide array of professional talent among its staff for the past 50 years.

“I am honored to have been selected to lead KVCOG as its next executive director,” said Amundsen., in a news release. “It is a privilege to have the opportunity to work with the KVCOG team to continue providing high-quality and valuable services to the municipalities of the Kennebec Valley. As an organization, KVCOG focus is to have a positive and meaningful impact for the region and beyond. I am very much looking forward to leading KVCOG in this essential mission.” 

Amundsen succeeds Laura Cyr, who left KVCOG to join the University of Maine System in October of 2020. Amundsen’s leadership appointment is a product of a rigorous and competitive national search, undertaken by the members of KVCOG’s Search Committee, made up of members of the KVCOG Board of Directors and local business leaders.  

“We are fortunate to have someone of Ole’s caliber and experience in this leadership role for KVCOG,” said Richard LaBelle, President, Board of Directors. “KVCOG is at a critical moment where renewed leadership will help us to successfully serve our region through, and beyond, the impact of the current pandemic.”

Amundsen is a resident of Waterville and comes to KVCOG with more than 20 years of experience in nonprofits and 10 years of experience in redevelopment and economic development in rural communities. Most recently, Amundsen was a visiting instructor in Environmental Studies at Colby College. He is also currently the Vice President of the Board of Directors for Friends of Quarry Road. Prior to this, Amundsen held the titles of Executive Director at Maine Audubon and Program Manager of the Land Conservation Loan Program at The Conservation Fund. Amundsen also holds a graduate degree in City Planning and Environmental Policy from M.I.T, and a Batchelor’s Degree in Government from Colby College.

About the Kennebec Valley Council of Governments (KVCOG)

KVCOG is a private, non-profit organization established in 1967 as membership organization and is owned and operated for the benefit of its members. The Council is enabled by state statue.

KVCOG provides a coordinated approach for planning and economic development at the local and regional level and has been a leader in economic development, environmental, land use and transportation planning with a wide array of professional talent among staff for the past 50 years.

With its office located in Fairfield, Maine, KVCOG serves 62 municipalities, several unorganized territories, 5,251 square miles, and a population of ~182,000 throughout the Kennebec Valley region of Maine within Kennebec, Somerset and western Waldo Counties. Our region is connected by the Kennebec River and includes the state capital of Augusta as well as the cities of Waterville, Gardiner, and Hallowell, as well as many rural towns. (Municipal population ranges from 42 to 18,972).

Learn more on our website www.kvcog.org, or follow us on Facebook (@KennebecValleyCOG) and Instagram (@kennebecvalleycouncilofgov).