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Palm Coast, Fla., Lands New IT Director

Chuck Burkhart, who brings nearly 30 years of experience, will lead the city’s IT department, officials confirmed Oct. 29.

(TNS) — Palm Coast, Fla.'s information technology team has a new head of operations.

The city last week hired Chuck Burkhart, an IT team builder with nearly 30 years of experience, city spokeswoman Cindi Lane announced Monday in a media release.

Burkhart came to Palm Coast most recently from Medi-Share, a Melbourne insurance company where he spent 20 months as director of IT operations. His application indicates he relocated to Palm Coast to be closer to family. He replaces Steve Viscardi, the city's former IT director who resigned in July. He was being paid $110,157 at the time.

Burkhart began Oct. 22. He will receive an annual salary of $107,500, Lane said.

The Indiana-bred tech executive takes the helm of a department on the rise. The city's $3-million IT branch includes 14-employees divvied into four separate teams — applications, operations, GIS and special projects. They support technology resources for the citywide staff of 400 employees.

Palm Coast's current administration has made technological innovation a key focus, emphasizing plans to expand the city's fiber optic and wireless infrastructure and "Smart City" applications. Burkhart also will be a member of the city's executive team.

"Chuck Burkhart has a strong record of effectively developing creative strategies and solutions to improve processes using technology," Interim City Manager Beau Falgout said in Monday's release. "We're excited to have him as part of the Palm Coast team and look forward to his leadership in this critical area."

City officials in April included those upgrades as part of the goals it set for year, and last month, council members finalized its 2018-19 spending plan, which added $500,000 to the IT budget to pay for some of the improvements.

"This is an exciting time to be involved in the city's technology direction," Burkhart said in a prepared statement. "I'm anxious to use my experience leveraging technology to drive business goals for the benefit of the city of Palm Coast."

Burkhart was born in Seoul, Korea before his military family moved to southern Indiana where he was reared. His resume includes an array of IT jobs across the country with more than 20 years of managerial positions. He came to Florida in 2012 following a short stint in Denver to take over as the IT director for the Family Support Services of North Florida, an adoption and foster care agency in Jacksonville.

Burkhart graduated from the University of Evansville in Indiana and spent the first nine years of his career as an analyst and project manager in the Hoosier State. He then moved to Atlanta in 1997 to be near family and worked his way up the ranks there for the next 14 years, according to his resume.

Lane noted Burkhart also underwent executive leadership training at Emory University's Goizueta Business School.

©2018 The News-Journal, Daytona Beach, Fla. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.