The NACo County News includes an interesting profile of Larry Naake, the outgoing Executive Director of the nationwide organization representing county officials.
Naake led NACo to several accomplishments of which he’s justifiably proud — though quick to share the credit. His proudest achievement, he said, enabled his successes: “Nothing would have happened if I hadn’t put together a first-class, first-rate staff at NACo. Because if you don’t have the right people for the organization, it’s hard to accomplish much.”
Running a close second was taking NACo from the significant budget deficit that existed when he was hired to a reserve of more than its annual operating budget. Creating NACo’s Financial Services Center and Financial Services Corp., and diversifying the association’s income beyond member dues played a major role.
He is especially proud of NACo’s County Leadership Institute that was created on his watch. “We’ve trained a lot of young and not-so-young county officials who have become leaders in NACo and active in their state associations,” he said. “And some have even gone on to other offices at the state and federal levels.”
