Chris Petrey has announced that he will seek the office of Marengo County Commissioner in District 2. He will run as a Democrat.

Petrey, a four-and-a-half-year veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard, has spent the past 18 years in the local healthcare industry. He currently serves as Community Relations Director with Southern Care Hospice.

Petrey, whose background is in marketing, said one of the areas he intends to focus on if elected would be job growth and industrial recruitment.

“The biggest thing we need to improve on is to promote our assets and get businesses in the area – big and small,” he said. “The operational cost of running the county is going up, and we need to make sure the tax base revenue goes up with it.”

Aside from his marketing background, Petrey said his work experiences have positioned him well to work with and for the varied population in District 2.

“The versatile background that I have has put me in many different situations dealing with many different people,” he said. “It has enabled me to deal with different situations and has given me different perspectives. I have worked in supervisory roles for the past 20 years and it has enabled me to work with people well, but you have to be open-minded and versatile.”

Petrey, who has served on the Dixie Youth Softball Board, the Demopolis Country Club Board, the Demopolis Youth Baseball Board and currently serves as President of the Demopolis Rotary Club, said he was seeking office to further give back to the community which he calls home. He is also a 2005 graduate of Leadership Marengo.

“I started thinking about this five or six years ago,” he said. “I’ve been involved in the community for long time – with youth sports, Rotary and other things. I want to step it up and be more involved. I’m raising my family here and want to do my part in making sure it’s a viable community, so when my children grow up and, if they decide they want to raise their families here, there will be strong infrastructure here for them for years to come.”

The infrastructure and growth, Petrey said, would come from the recruitment and retention of jobs.

“I’m willing to work with the industrial development board in any way I can,” he said.

“I’ll work with any organization that is trying to better this community, but it all comes back to selling our assets. I know how to market to a business. I know how to develop a business plan and a marketing plan, and I know how to identify marketing strategies and what businesses are looking for and I know how to promote our community to its fullest.”

Petrey and his wife, Ashley, have four children: Bailey, 14; Macey, 13; Davis, 11 and Bayne, 2.

They attend First United Methodist Church in Demopolis.

– from staff reports