Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
County Administrator speaks to students about his career
Robert Kagel speaks about his 16 years working for the county
DOWNINGTOWN >> County Administrator Robert Kagel, who has worked with the county for about 16 years, spoke to 40 Downingtown students about his career path as part of a “lunch and learn series.”
Kagel, the highest nonelected official in county government, is responsible for the supervision and direction of all county government programs, finance and administrative operations under the leadership of the County Commissioners. His responsibilities include the county’s 911 and public safety system, the county prison, the health department, library system, human services department, aging services, veteran’s affairs, family services and more. When asked by a Downingtown West High School student, he said the hardest part about his job is balancing funds for all of the necessary departments. He told students about how he advanced in his career.
“It’s been an incredible ride. I feel incredibly lucky,” Kagel said. “I’ve enjoyed the career path that I’ve taken.”
Kagel, originally of New York, moved to Chester County because his dad’s job relocated them and he then attended the Downingtown Area School District. He described it as a “huge culture change” when he grew up near farmland. His dad had volunteered with an ambulance crew in New York and his father continued to volunteer when they moved. Kagel did several ride-alongs with his father, as well as with the Brandywine Hospital Paramedic unit. Kagel followed in his dad’s footsteps and became an EMT at 16 years old.
“It’s what I enjoyed doing,” Kagel said. “It’s what I loved.”
His parents told him he had to go to college so he enrolled at West Chester University. He thought about majoring in nursing, but when he was influenced by friends to follow his other passion to make more money, he enrolled as a computer science major. After three days he withdrew and said at the time “college wasn’t for me.”
“I wanted to be in the back of an ambulance,” Kagel said. “I wanted to be making a difference and helping people.”
He worked at various fire departments throughout the county, including the Minquas Fire Company in Downingtown. A fellow volunteer told him about the creation of a new position at the Chester County Department of Emergency Services. The job, as a quality analysis, required an associate’s degree or equivalent experience. He applied and accepted the job which involved recording the ambulance responses in the county and reporting it to the state level. Later in his career he served as the director of the Emergency Services.
“In that job I was responsible for the county’s overall disaster response,” Kagel said.
He said during storms he would be stationed in the command center at the Department of Emergency Services and he watched the weather to determine what resources may be needed during emergencies.
He said throughout his career at the Department of Emergency Services, he
held positions and was promoted because of his leadership skills. He added that his aspirations developed more when people saw potential in him to advance.
At the time, the county paid for staff members to earn an associate’s degree from Delaware County Community College. Kagel seized that opportunity and studied Emergency Services Management. When encouraged to earn his bachelor’s degree, he decided to take an online program on legal studies while working full-time. He said he knew he wanted to earn a degree when he continued advancing in his career, and he fulfilled the promise to his parents to return to college.
Troy Podell, Coordinator of Career Readiness for the Downingtown Area School District, began the lunch and learn series to allow students to gain insight from a guest speaker about their career path, a description of their daily work and answering questions from students. During this school year, nearly 20 professionals will speak to Downingtown West and East high school students about their careers.