Hennepin County Profile: Jamie Zwilling

To learn more about how Hennepin County works for you, the District 3 team has started a profile series with employees of the county who live in the district. Each month will spotlight a different person from varying departments and occupations.  Find out about the day-to-day aspects of occupational fields and work environments at the county, and how each person’s work affects your life.

Jamie Zwilling
Strategic Communications Officer, Hennepin County Communications 
Loring Park Neighborhood
One month at Hennepin County

Describe your work.

My position is new for the county, and it was created as part of a reorganization focusing communications around three key areas: public relations, strategic communications and web administration. It is my role is to lead the overall communication strategy for the county along with the public relations officer and business information officer/web manager . This position was created because administration felt we need to be strategic in telling our story to the people we serve. Day to day, I oversee the communications department and the writers, designers, video producers, event planners and administrative staff that work there. We put out all of the county’s communications, and we want to make sure that Hennepin County is not invisible. The work that is done here should be known; it is important people understand the work that is going on here, from services day-to-day to innovative practices being developed and implemented here and imitated elsewhere.

One of our biggest charges is meeting residents where they’re at. Residents have different preferences for receiving communication, and the county realizes that to be successful a multi-faceted approach is needed. We communicate with residents via social media, video, traditional marketing (letters, notifications, etc) and outreach through the print, radio and television media.

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What part of your job do you find most challenging?

The sheer size of the county and the amount of operations we have is daunting. The public doesn't see all the points at which their lives are impacted by Hennepin County, and it is difficult to put all of that together. Further, we could end up doing too much trying to communicate everything that is happening and saturate our own messaging. People might stop paying attention if we aren't deliberate about what we're communicating - though right now as a new employee, it’s been difficult just finding everyone’s offices!

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What do you find most enjoyable?

There is always a new story for us to find. Every day I get to learn about something new that is happening at the county and how it impacts our residents’ lives. It makes the job worthwhile.

Right now I’m learning about our workforce development initiatives. There will be a shortage of workers as the baby boomer generation retires, and Hennepin County has developed training programs to bring people into the organization. We’re not just trying to create jobs here; we’re trying to create careers - especially among under-served communities so we can reflect the community we’re serving. That in itself is a story that is uplifting and worthy of sharing, but we’re also sharing that model with companies, filling a role in the area as an incubator and trying new things. People often think government is slow to change, but we are innovators. And we understand that diversity and inclusion breed creativity, so we’re making efforts to utilize our commitment to diversity and inclusion to fuel innovation.

An example of how the communications department plays a role in sharing these messages is through video production. To convey what the workforce development program is doing, we followed a class in the program at MCTC to track their progress and recorded it as a mini-documentary. We shared this with our partner organizations, commissioners, social media, etc, and it also allows us to walk into a fortune-500 company and advocate for workforce development programs. Marketing is something people think government doesn't do, but it is important for us to let our residents know what we are doing, and it is a great way to say thank you to our employees who are doing great work every day.

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What is one thing everyone should know about the work you do?

It is important to convey that government impacts your life in a variety of ways every day. There are so many facets to county government and so many people working in the lines of business that are dedicated to improving residents' lives that we’re privileged in communications to help people understand the work that goes into making that happen.

Jamie Zwilling is the Strategic Communications Officer at Hennepin County Communications. He is a resident of Loring Park, and has been with the county for a month, with a previous stop working for the city of St. Louis Park. Hennepin County Communications helps Hennepin County accomplish its goals and strategies through the use of communications solutions including: communication plans, marketing and advertising, media relations, web content management, social media, graphic design, event management and video production. To find out more, click here.