Jennifer Liptak — who spent 26 years in Allegheny County government, including 12 as the top assistant to former County Executive Rich Fitzgerald — is following her old boss to the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission.

The county announced Friday that Liptak resigned as county manager for new County Executive Sara Innamorato to join the commission in the newly created position of deputy executive director/chief operating officer. Liptak was Fitzgerald’s chief of staff for 12 years and finished as county manager in the final few months of his term after previously working for the district attorney’s office and serving as County Council’s budget director.

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission again has tapped Allegheny County for a top administrator, announcing Friday that Jennifer Liptak, county manager under former county Executive Rich Fitzgerald and his successor Sara Innamorato, has been named SPC’s deputy executive director/chief operating officer, effective June 10.

In her new role, Liptak will lead a team of 50 staff members and report directly to Fitzgerald, who was named SPC’s executive director at the end of three terms as Allegheny’s chief executive.

Allegheny County Manager Jennifer Liptak will leave the county after more than 25 years of service to become deputy executive director and chief operating officer of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission.

Liptak had been chief of staff for former Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald during his 12 years in office and had been county manager in the first months of County Executive Sara Innamorato’s tenure. She joined the Allegheny County government in 1998 and has been finance director in the Office of District Attorney and budget director of the Office of County Council.

Allegheny County manager Jennifer Liptak will step down effective June 7, officials announced Friday.

Liptak was appointed to the position in February 2023 by then-County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, and she continued to hold it after current County Executive Sara Innamorato took office in January.

“It is bittersweet to accept County Manager Liptak’s resignation. She has been a phenomenal public servant for more than 20 years and her dedication and passion for Allegheny County is evident every day,” Innamorato said in a statement.

Allegheny County Manager Jen Liptak is headed to the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, departing county government after over a quarter-century of service and reuniting with former County Executive Rich Fitzgerald.

Liptak’s last day will be June 7, according to a press release from County Executive Sara Innamorato.

Many politicos view the county manager as an important position because that person essentially runs the day-to-day operations of county government.

If projections of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission are accurate, residents of the Connellsville area will begin the new year with the long awaited reopening of the McCray Robb Memorial Bridge along Crawford Avenue.

Representatives of the SPC met with area officials Tuesday to discuss present and upcoming projects.

Business and industry in the North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission’s (North Central) six-county region will have an opportunity through the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission to learn about doing business in Canada and Mexico.

Advantages of Exporting to Canada and Mexico will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, June 6 at The Terminal, located at 42 21st St., Suite 101, Pittsburgh, PA 15222.

Fayette County residents who rely on DSL or wireless home internet services are being asked to participate in the Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority’s (PBDA) broadband service challenge process.

“The broadband authority has a list of addresses that they claim have broadband availability at their residences,” said Scott Dunn, chair of the county commissioners. “We have to look at this list and say this is right or this is wrong. We will challenge these addresses, because we’re sure that many of them don’t have the required megabyte speed to be considered reliable internet. If an area needs broadband, we want to get a grant to cover the area.”

Armstrong County’s board of commissioners is requesting that residents who rely on DSL or wireless home internet services participate by May 22 in the Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority’s (PBDA) broadband service challenge process, according to a recently issued press release.

Residents can go to: SPCBEADchallenge.com — and follow the instructions to identify their location on the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) map and take the speed test.

Executive Director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, Rich Fitzgerald, joins Larry in the studio to discuss lots of projects and things happening in our region. Suzie Cool also joins them for her “Cool Scoop” weekly segment.

Listen to the full interview at audacy.com.