Eight counties | 36 cities | one region

Robin Simpson, executive director of the Mark Twain Regional Planning Commission at Perry, Mo., passes the MACOG gavel to Prigge during the Jan. 7 MACOG board meeting. Pictured from left are: Newly elected secretary-treasurer Linda Connor, executive director of Lake of the Ozarks Council of Governments, outgoing president Robin Simpson, Bonnie Prigge, and newly elected vice president Jackie Spainhower, executive director of Northwest Regional Council of Governments at Maryville.

ST. JAMES—Bonnie Prigge, executive director of the Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC), was elected president of the Missouri Association of Councils of Governments (MACOG), during the group’s Jan. 7 meeting in Jefferson City.

MACOG is the statewide organization representing Missouri’s 19 regional planning commissions and councils of governments. These professional organizations represent the entire state of Missouri and are committed to enhancing the state’s regions. Regional councils are engaged in a myriad of activities, including economic and community development, housing initiatives, safety and security, transportation planning, environmental issues and quality-of-life issues.

Prigge previously served two years asMACOG’s vice president and was elected to serve two years as president, replacing Robin Simpson, executive director of the Mark Twain Regional Planning Commission at Perry, Mo. The MACOG board also elected Jackie Spainhower, executive director of Northwest Regional Council of Governments at Maryville, as vice president, and Linda Connor, executive director of Lake of the Ozarks Council of Governments, as secretary-treasurer.

Prigge has represented MRPC on the MACOG board since her appointment as executive director July 1, 2011.

MRPC is a voluntary council of governments serving Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Osage, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties and their respective cities since 1969. Prigge heads a staff of 24 professionals and support staff with an operating budget of over $1.8 million and pass-through funds of over $8 million in FY2014-15. MRPC is located at 4 Industrial Drive in St. James.

Prigge’s education in the communications field and professional experiences will be an asset to MACOG. A graduate of Belle High School, she holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She joined MRPC in 1991 as a communications coordinator/grant writer and was promoted to assistant director in 1995, a position she held until her promotion to executive director in 2011.

Prigge also serves on several boards and committees, including the Missouri Department of Transportation’s Federal Land Access Program (FLAP) Committee, the Missouri Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) board, Sustainable Ozarks Partnership, The Community Partnership Educare Committee, the Maries County R-2 PTO, Vichy Volunteer Fire Department and the Belle-Bland Booster Club. She and her husband, Mike, and two children, Logan and Lauren, live at Vichy.