CONTACT:
Mike Van Milligen, City Manager
563-589-4110
ctymgr@cityofdubuque.org  

Sept. 19, 2017 -- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
Burbach Named Assistant City Manager
 
DUBUQUE, Iowa – Dubuque City Manager Mike Van Milligen has named Cori Burbach assistant city manager.  Burbach has served as the City’s sustainable community coordinator since September 2009.  Her appointment follows an internal search and fills the assistant city manager vacancy created in June when Cindy Steinhauser accepted the city manager position in Frankfort, Kentucky.
 
“Cori has spent many years in Dubuque working on the top priority for the mayor and city council:  sustainability.  This initiative involves a focus on economic prosperity, environmental/ecological integrity, and social/cultural vibrancy to create a viable, livable, and equitable community,” said Van Milligen.  “In that time, Cori has established a reputation for a can-do attitude, a tireless work ethic, and building strong relationships inside and outside the organization developing the partnerships needed for success.  I look forward as Cori brings these attributes to the assistant city manager position, focusing on problem-solving and creating an even more high-performance organization making data-driven decisions focusing on positive outcomes.”
 
Burbach’s appointment is effective immediately.  As assistant city manager, she assists the city manager in directing the day-to-day operations of the City government, acts as city manager in his absence, and exercises general supervision over all functions and activities of the City when acting for the city manager.  She will also have a significant role in implementing the city manager’s  management philosophy of problem solving, developing partnerships, and being input-oriented.  An additional major responsibility of the position will be creating a more data-driven, high-performance organization focusing on outcomes and not outputs and including cross-departmental cooperation and integration with performance measurement and evaluation.
 
As Dubuque’s sustainable community coordinator, Burbach has been responsible for implementation of the community’s sustainability strategic plan, public education and engagement, local business support, grant application and administration, budget management, and technical analysis and implementation of sustainable practices for City departments.  She also facilitated community engagement and development of new programs and community initiatives including creation of the Resilient Community Advisory Commission.
 
Before being named sustainable community coordinator, Burbach served as stimulus coordinator, part-time position for the City from June to September of 2009, managing the City’s response to federal economic stimulus opportunities related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  She simultaneously worked as resource development director for Dubuque Main Street, coordinating funding requests and grant applications and researching financing and policy opportunities.  From 2007 to 2009, Burbach served both the City of Dubuque and the City of Lancaster, Wis., as a local government management fellow through a competitive program of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA).
 
Her previous experience includes serving as a management intern for the Borough of Media, Penn.; public administration research assistant at the University of Delaware Institute for Public Affairs in Newark, Del.; planning intern for the Delaware Office of State Planning and Coordination in Dover, Del.; and program coordinator for the University of Northern Iowa State and Local Government Program in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
 
Burbach holds a master of public administration degree with a focus on city management and planning from the University of Delaware and a bachelor of arts degree in public administration with a minor in family services from the University of Northern Iowa.  She is a member of the Urban Sustainability Directors Network, STAR Communities Steering Committee, International City/County Management Association, and Dubuque Young Professionals. 
 
Her community involvement includes serving on the boards of DuRide, the Iowa Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, Inclusive Dubuque, Creative Adventure Lab, and the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Sustainable and Renewable Energy Systems.  Burbach’s committee involvement includes the Andrew Connolly Make a Difference Day, Driftless Farm and Food Festival, and Young Professionals Dubuque Community Days of Caring.  
 
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