Tautges, Voelker Join NJPA Staff

National Joint Powers Alliance® (NJPA) is pleased to announce the hiring of Michelle Tautges and James Voelker, CFCM. Both joined the staff in August 2017.

Tautges serves as a Regional Licensing Specialist. In this role, she can be hired by Region 5 counties to oversee the licensing of childcare home and adult foster care homes. Some of her responsibilities include development and recruitment of new homes, providing orientation and screening, completing the licensing process with interested providers, assuring appropriate training has been completed, and supporting agency needs. Tautges serves as the advocate for all providers that she licenses and as a resource for Region 5 counties.

Tautges began her career in the public sector working as a Community Health Educator. In this role, she coordinated multiple programs and grants, including Emergency Preparedness, Car Seats Education, Toward Zero Deaths, Statewide Health Improvement Partnership Grant, Emergency Medical Services, and Community Health Needs Assessment Planning.

After two years, Tautges was promoted to a Community Health Supervisor and the Family Services Collaborative Coordinator where she supervised many of the grants and programs in the department and initiated and coordinated the collaborative efforts throughout the county in regards to family services and resources. Tautges and her husband, Jeremy, reside in Brainerd with their two children.

Voelker serves as the Procurement Lead Analyst in NJPA's Procurement Department. His role is to help oversee the entire Request for Proposal (RFP) process from advertising to making recommendations for award. He is also tasked with analyzing procurement processes to refine and incorporate best practices.

Prior to joining NJPA, Voelker worked full time for the Minnesota Army National Guard as a warranted Federal Contracting Officer. In this role, he was responsible for awarding, administering, and terminating a wide variety of federal contracts for supplies, services, construction, and architect/engineer services. He is a Certified Federal Contract Manager (CFCM) through the National Contract Management Association and is also Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act Level II certified in contracting.

Voelker still serves in the Army National Guard in a traditional, part-time capacity as an Acquisition, Logistics & Technology Contracting Non-Commissioned Officer. Voelker and his wife, Kayla, currently reside in Brainerd.