The Lewis County Transit Board of Directors this week announced it has found a new leader for the regional transportation organization.
The agency has named Robert “Josh” Nylander as its newest executive director after announcing the retirement of Executive Director Joe Clark earlier this year.
Nylander was chosen as part of the agency's planned leadership search to find a new leader by this fall. In a news release, Lewis County Transit touted Nylander’s 14 years of experience in public transit. His experience includes nine years with the Whatcom Transportation Authority, most recently as its director of information technology.
Nylander has relevant experience in every aspect of the job despite his former title suggesting specialization in IT, according to the release.
“During his tenure, he led projects and initiatives that touched nearly every area of transit operations — service planning, budget creation, zero-emission fleet transition, microtransit implementation, strategic planning, large-scale procurements and contract management,” Lewis County Transit stated in the release.
Nylander’s “people-centered leadership style” as well as his experience “building strong teams through empathy, mentorship and collaboration” won him the job, according to the release.
Nylander voiced excitement to begin work with the local transportation agency.
“I’m passionate about transit because it connects every part of our lives — where we live, work, learn, shop and play,” Nylander stated in the release. “I’m honored to join Lewis County Transit and look forward to working together to strengthen our service and meet the needs of our communities.”
Nylander will start work on Sept. 15.
While Clark prepares to step down from his role as executive director, he will stay on with the regional transit agency to continue his work on development of Lewis County Transit hydrogen fuel projects, which includes a hydrogen fuel production facility on Port of Chehalis grounds, a hydrogen fuel bus station and a growing hydrogen-fueled bus fleet.
