From
the Commissioner . . .
Roughly six decades ago another respected gentleman occupied the position that I now fill. His name was John Thomas Kelly and he was my grandfather. His term of service was from 1939-1941; when Montana’s Agriculture Department and Labor and Industry were once one.
In maintaining the Kelly family legacy I served as director of the Montana Agriculture Department under the commanding leadership of former Governor Ted Schwinden (1983-1989), was head of the Arizona Agriculture Department (1990-1997) and was national administrator of the Farm Services Agency/USDA under former President Bill Clinton (1997-2001).
At the conclusion of Clinton’s term, I felt my “boots” yearn for my “roots” and returned to the great state of Montana where I joined Labor and Industry, under former Commissioner Wendy Keating, as the Administrator for the Unemployment Insurance Division (2002-2004).
On January 3, 2005 my good friend and transformational leader, Governor Brian Schweitzer bestowed a great honor upon me by entrusting me with the appointment of Commissioner to ensure that the message of a “New Day in Montana” is directly correlated to the continuing development of services for Montana’s workforce.
Embarking upon this new day, my team and I reflect upon the wisdom of those before us, by declaring our commitment to upholding our mission at the Department of Labor and Industry (DLI). Our mission is to promote the well being of Montana’s workers, employers, and citizens, and uphold your rights and responsibilities. We, at DLI, do this by remaining steadfast to our core values of customer focus, individual responsibility, individual growth, ethics in the workplace, and continuous improvement.
It is by living our core values we are able to deliver the tools necessary to keep Montanan’s safe; connecting you to job opportunities, providing a ‘safety net’ for workers who fall on hard times, supporting our diverse businesses and protecting our citizens through a variety of regulatory functions to create greater understanding of employee and employer rights and responsibilities.
