Hobbs, assistant to Smoak, among 5 new Town hires
Town of Farragut welcomes Trevor Hobbs as the new assistant to the Town administrator.
Hobbs came on board Monday, Oct. 1, to assume the new position, which is to help Town administrator David Smoak.
“Trevor is an excellent addition to our staff,” Smoak said. “He’ll help us expand our customer support to citizens, examine and identify areas where we can be more efficient, and help with project management along the way.”
“I’m excited to be here,” said Hobbs, who previously was One Stop counselor with One Stop Student Services on the University of Tennessee, Knoxville campus.
In that role, he helped students, parents and staff navigate issues and was a liaison with the administration’s offices.
“I am very pleased to be joining the team of Farragut, where such progress is taking place and where the residents are so enthusiastic about creating a community they want not just for themselves but for future generations.
“I am looking forward to working with the Town administrator and the (Farragut) Board of Mayor and Aldermen,” he added.
“The main duty of the Town administrator is to carry out the policy agenda set forth by the (Farragut) Board of Mayor and Aldermen. My duties are appendages to that core principle.”
Hobbs will be preparing and delivering a balanced budget, appointing and maintaining a staff and providing politically neutral information to the Board to facilitate their decision-making.
“Longer term, I will be reviewing some of the Town’s policies and procedures related to new businesses and building permits, so I can help improve these processes if possible,” he said.
He also expects to “act as a business liaison for business owners to help them through the (Town requirements) process start to finish.”
He plans on using his navigational skills to help residents, businesses and developers navigate the Town’s ordinances and procedures.
“I will seek to understand the process so well that I can make it simpler for business owners to navigate,” Hobbs said. “I’ll bring a personal touch and an element of customer service to (those) building a new business in Farragut.”
Before coming to Farragut, he said Farragut “was an intentional community.
“Farragut wanted to maintain the community that was here (before incorporation in 1980),” Hobbs added.
“The community did not want to be annexed to Knoxville,” he added.
“That’s why Farragut was incorporated in the 1980s, even though it had been a community for many years already.”
Originally from Hamilton, Ohio, Hobbs moved to the Knoxville area in 2006 while still in high school. He had been with UT’s One Stop Student Services since the beginning of 2016.
“One Stop combines, for the purposes of service delivery, Undergraduate Admissions, Financial Aid, Bursar and Registrar services,” he said.
Hobbs is married to Holly Hobbs, and they have two children: Hailey, 5, and Jack, 1.
He joins four other new Town staff members: Karl Swierzko, hired as the Town’s new building official; Connor Vermilyea, Community Development planner; and Brandon Willard and James Burnette in Public Works.
“Filling these critical staff positions will enable us to take a more proactive approach to code enforcement, reduce review times for building plans and inspections and allow us to enhance our service levels to the community,” Smoak said.
