North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong has appointed Phil Davis, currently the agency’s workforce service director, to serve as interim executive director of Job Service North Dakota when Executive Director Pat Bertagnolli retires on June 12.
Davis has spent nearly two decades with the agency, joining in 2007 as an industry liaison before being promoted the following year to customer service area manager overseeing daily operations across six workforce centers in central and western North Dakota. He was elevated to workforce service director in 2019, a role in which he oversees all nine of the state’s workforce centers as well as a unit administering 15 separate workforce programs.
Before his career in workforce services, Davis served 21 years in the U.S. Air Force as an air traffic controller, with postings at bases around the world including a tour in Iraq. A native of Mandan, North Dakota, he earned a bachelor’s degree in business and aviation management from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, while on active duty.
Job Service North Dakota employs approximately 159 full-time staff and 76 temporary workers and operates on a biennial budget of $79.1 million, managing multiple federal grants covering workforce development and unemployment services across the state.
No timeline was given for a permanent appointment to lead the agency.
By: DNU staff