Having spent 16 years as an assistant with the Aiken County Public School District’s purchasing department from the late Nineties to 2014, Wagener area resident Deborah Tyler is returning later this year as the department’s newest director.
Members of the Aiken County Board of Education approved Tyler’s appointment during Tuesday’s regularly scheduled meeting at Midland Valley High School. She will join the District in May, preceding the retirement of current ACPSD Purchasing Director Doug Atkins.
Tyler says she is overjoyed to have the opportunity to return to Aiken County in a professional capacity, following a pair of leadership roles in state-level positions with the S.C. Department of Probation, Parole and Pardons and the S.C. Department of Transportation.
“I consider this appointment to be the pinnacle of my career,” Tyler stated Tuesday. “It is an honor to know that I will once again be working with people who I have worked so closely with before and people whom I consider to be like family members. It’s an honor to come back and work for the Aiken County Public School District in that capacity.”
As a state procurement officer with the S.C. Department of Probation, Parole and Pardons from 2014 to 2016, and a procurement manager overseeing eight counties and the SCDOT Supply and Equipment Depot for the S.C. Department of Transportation over the past two years, Tyler says she is ready to step into her new role in Aiken County.
“While in those state government positions, I was able to take advantage of numerous training opportunities while overseeing a number of complex procurement projects, and those things I feel have prepared me for my new position,” Tyler commented.
“I think the school district’s procurement department is solid, and operates with the utmost integrity, so I will definitely just be looking to build upon that foundation,” she added.
Tyler earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Limestone College in Gaffney, South Carolina, is a Certified Professional Public Buyer (CPPB), and holds a state procurement certificate and state information technology procurement certificate.
“I am truly excited to return home,” Tyler stated. “It’s just a real honor, because working for Aiken County Public Schools was like home for me.”
LINK TO DISTRICT PRESS RELEASE: 2018 PR PURCHASING DIRECTOR