MANATEE COUNTY — Manatee County Property Management has a new leader. Cary Knight—who has served with Monroe County Government for the past eight years—was unanimously approved by the Board of County Commissioners today.
“I really believe in the team that is being built here,” said Knight. “I could just tell that this a great group of people.”
The most recent department director confirmation comes during a time when many new leadership positions are being filled within the county organization under the new leadership of County Administrator Charlie Bishop.
In late October, Manatee County Government welcomed two other new department directors, Nicole Knapp was confirmed as Director of the Department of Development Services and Lee dePalo was confirmed as Director of the Department of Community and Veteran Services.
Since he was appointed County Administrator, Bishop has also brought forward three administrative cabinet appointments for the board’s confirmation, including Deputy County Administrators Bryan Parnell and Evan Pilachowski. Andrew Butterfield was added to the administrative team as well, in the newly created position of administrator’s Chief of Staff.
Knight comes to Manatee County with a diverse background in leadership, project management and entrepreneurship, having worked in the private sector, business ownership and most recently as the Director of Project Management for Monroe County. He has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Iowa State University and a Master of Business Administration from Louisiana State University.
Knight also is a Project Management Professional (PMP) and Certified Lean Practitioner. He served in Monroe County as the Logistics Section Chief during Hurricane Irma and as the Deputy Operations Section Chief during the pandemic. He is an active member of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and the National Association of Counties (NACo), recently earning a master's certificate for High-Performance Leadership through the NaCO.
“We are looking forward to having Cary on the team,” said Manatee County Administrator Charlie Bishop in a press release. “From our parks and preserves to working with our county-wide facilities, we know he will make a big difference.”
