McDowell
This Thursday will be Teresa McDowell’s last day as a Macon County employee, and when she leaves, the county government will lose one of its longest serving members.
McDowell has always had a passion for trying new things. She was in her 30s when she went to night school at Western Carolina University to get her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. She quickly picked up a position as director of the Criminal Justice Partnership Program with Macon County and stayed there for seven years until funding for the program ran out.
Her time with the county wasn’t nearly over, though. Over the next several years, she would serve as a delinquent tax collector, a paralegal for the county attorney’s office, a tax administrative assistant and a building inspections worker. She’s currently the clerk to the Macon County Airport Authority and the county’s tax collection supervisor. All in all, she’s been employed with Macon County for 26 years, a display of loyalty that some county officials can hardly believe.
“The average county employee stays for about five years,” Macon County Commissioner Ronnie Beale said. “The citizens of Macon County should be very proud to have had Teresa for as long as they have.”
Understanding how McDowell has stuck around so long requires understanding her background. While she wasn’t born in Macon County, she moved here when she was seven years old following her father’s time in the U.S. Navy, and they had several generations of family in place here. She came to recognize Macon County as her true home and didn’t feel the need to seek out something new somewhere else – especially when she got to try so many new things on the job.
“I never had any desire to move away,” McDowell said. “I never got tired of it. I was always learning something new.”
Her longevity also had a lot to do with her can-do spirit. The ambition that earned her a post-secondary education never faded, as she became a go-to source for county officials in need. McDowell’s coworkers were always impressed by how tireless she was in pursuit of whatever goals came her way.
“Teresa’s tenacity is amazing,” said Wilma Anderson, retired Macon County assistant manager and human resources director. “She worked at a law office, waited tables and went to school while getting her bachelor’s degree. Give her a task or a problem and she doesn’t give up until it is completed perfectly.”
All that effort has paid dividends in the level of service that the county provides to citizens, even in ways that many of them may not realize.
“The impact that Teresa has had on the Macon County Tax office has been significant,” said tax administrator Abby Braswell. “Teresa worked hard to improve the processes and make tax collection a better experience for the taxpayer as well as the office staff.”
Perhaps most important of all to McDowell’s success is that she’s a joy to work with. Across every department she’s served in, her coworkers have the same consensus – that her personability is a huge asset to interactions with clients and to making the county government a great place to work.
“She has never been our boss, but always our leader,” said Lori Smith, assistant tax collections supervisor under McDowell. “She has guided us, taught us, took up for us and has been our friend and our mentor, always having an ear to listen and a shoulder to cry on. She will be missed more than she will ever know.”
McDowell is looking forward to slowing down a bit in her retirement, taking some time for reading and gardening, but she’s not going to devote all her time to leisure. An animal lover and the owner of four rescue pets, she expects to spend a lot more time volunteering with Appalachian Animal Rescue Center. She’ll also still be working just a bit for the county by continuing as Airport Authority clerk. She’s not going to stop being active in the county community.
At the end of the day, the people of Macon County are still a high priority for McDowell. She’s always taken serving local citizens as a serious responsibility. She expects the same from her coworkers, and she sincerely appreciates all the support they’ve shown her in her 26-year tenure.
“The county employees who the public deals with all the time are the face of the county, and we try to present the best of what the county can be,” McDowell said. “I’ve always been very lucky to have good people to work with.”
Teresa McDowell’s last day is Thursday, Sept. 30.