MFDA Board Chooses Preferred Executive Director Candidate

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October 24, 2024

MFDA Board Chooses Preferred Executive Director Candidate

FARGO, ND (October 24, 2024) - The Metro Flood Diversion Authority Board chose a preferred finalist for the executive director job today. Three finalists were interviewed during the public meeting and, following an executive session, the Board directed the co-executive directors to extend an employment offer and negotiate the parameters of an employment agreement with Jason Benson, of West Fargo, North Dakota.

Benson has worked for the Cass County Highway Department since 2000, including as its county engineer since 2011. In that role, he has served as a senior technical advisor for the FM Area Diversion project. Benson also is a brigadier general in the Minnesota Army National Guard, serving as the assistant division commander for Operations and Maneuver, 34^th Infantry Division, in the Middle East. He's a professional engineer who earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from North Dakota State University, Fargo; a master's degree in management from the University of Mary, Fargo campus; and a master's degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College in Pennsylvania.

Benson's Middle East deployment is expected to end by December. If he accepts the offer, he will transition into the executive director role in early 2025. Until then, Michael Redlinger, City of Fargo city administrator, and Robert Wilson, Cass County administrator, will continue to serve as co-executive directors for the MFDA.

About the Metro Flood Diversion Authority

The MFDA is a permanent North Dakota political subdivision that is cooperatively implementing the Fargo-Moorhead Area Diversion comprehensive project with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The MFDA works in partnership with the Red River Valley Alliance in a public-private partnership as well as the City of Fargo, City of Moorhead, Cass County, Clay County and the Cass County Joint Water Resource District. More information is available at www.FMDiversion.gov.

Jason Benson Bio

Jason Benson, of West Fargo, North Dakota, joined the Cass County Highway Department as a design and construction engineer in 2000. In 2011, he was promoted to county engineer. In that role, he leads and manages three Cass County Departments - Highway, Planning and Vector Control - and their combined staff of roughly 80 employees. He also oversees the County Planning Office. He's responsible for infrastructure management of more than 630 miles of paved and gravel roads and 560 bridge structures. When flooding occurs, as it did in 2019, 2020 and 2023, he serves as the incident commander for Cass County's flood response efforts.

Benson is a senior technical advisor for the FM Area Diversion project, collaborating with agencies on design and technical aspects for some components. He has served on numerous technical teams and committees for Metro COG, Red River Basin Commission, North Dakota Department of Transportation, North Dakota Local Technical Assistance Program, North Dakota Association of County Engineers, North Dakota Association of Counties, and Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute.

Benson also serves in the Minnesota Army National Guard. Currently, he's a brigadier general deployed to the Middle East as the assistant division commander for Operations and Maneuver, 34^th Infantry Division. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1989 and has had numerous leadership positions domestically as well as overseas, including in Iraq, Macedonia, Kosovo, Germany and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Benson earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from North Dakota State University, a master's degree in management from the University of Mary's Fargo campus, and a master's degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College. He's a professional engineer and has completed numerous FEMA Incident Command Center courses.

His recognitions include a Gold Star Award from the North Dakota Ready Mix and Concrete Products Association for his work as a lead designer and project manager for North Dakota's first County Highway Bonded Concrete Overlay. He received the NDDOT Vision Zero Safety Award for 2023, was named County Engineer of the Year in by the North Dakota County Engineers Association in 2021, received the National Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties in 2020, and was awarded the Outstanding Community Leadership Award by the Boy Scouts of America, Northern Lights Council, in 2019. Additionally, his department received the Asphalt Recycling and Reclamation Association's Annual Project Award for Excellence in Soil Stabilization as well as the inaugural Vision Zero Safety Program Award, both in 2019.

Among Benson's more than 50 military awards and badges are a Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, Airborne Badge and Ranger Tab.