Marlin Bates has been named executive director of the Douglas County Extension Office, 2110 Harper St. Bates, who will take over duties in the new position after the first of the year, previously served as a horticulture agent.

Marlin Bates is eager for the new year.

On Dec. 19, the Douglas County Extension Board promoted the 38-year-old Bates to the position of Extension executive director. Bates, who has been the Douglas County Extension horticultural agent the past three years, will start his new duties with the start of the year. He succeeds Don Moler, who retired in November after two years as director.

“This is the sort of work I feel like I was built for,” Bates said. “I think that’s because I have a passion for the mission.”

Douglas County Extension is a partnership between Kansas State University and federal, state and county governments charged with helping improve the quality of life for citizens by providing research-based educational programs. According to the agency’s website, Extension educational programs focus on five key areas of community vitality, food sources, enhancing youth leadership, health and water.

The executive director position is a job Bates has spent a lifetime preparing for, beginning with his 4-H days growing up on a farm near Erie in Neosho County. He then earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in horticulture from Kansas State University, traveling the state as a graduate student with his adviser, Ted Carey, an Extension state horticultural specialist. Carey shared both his knowledge and passion for Extension during those years, Bates said.

Marlin Bates has been named executive director of the Douglas County Extension Office, 2110 Harper St. Bates, who will take over duties in the new position after the first of the year, previously served as a horticulture agent.

Bates’ first job out of college was with University of Missouri Extension. He and his wife, Erica, and two children moved to Douglas County three years ago when he accepted the position of county horticultural agent.

Despite his thorough background in Extension, Bates said he found the Douglas County office a little different because of the county’s diversity — with its mix of large farms, urban agriculture and rural “estate” landowners, Bates said.

Another challenge is addressing the needs of the diverse population with an Extension staff of 14 in a county of 115,000 residents, Bates said. The keys to successfully surmounting those challenges are the quality of Extension’s staff and community outreach, he said. By the latter, Bates means communicating to the public what Extension has to offer and developing partnerships to help realize and expand its goals.

“Only through partnerships can we reach our public,” he said. “One of the things I look forward to is strengthening our existing partnerships and finding new ones.”

Extension’s master gardener program is an example of a successful partnership with volunteers who share their gardening expertise with the community, Bates said.

Sandy Jacquot, Douglas County Extension Board secretary, said Bates was an intelligent, creative and enthusiastic leader who has the respect of the Extension peers and the Douglas County community. He has been very active in establishing a local food network, which allows county food producers to market in the community, she said.

Bates is currently chairman of the Douglas County Food Policy Council, which will be involved with two high-visibility programs in the coming months. The first of those is a marketing study for the county’s farmers’ markets in downtown Lawrence, Baldwin City, Eudora and Lecompton, which is scheduled to be released in January. The study is to have recommendations on how the four markets can be improved, and its authors are to visit with organizers of the local markets about the recommendations. Some money will be available to help implement suggested improvements.

The Food Policy Council is also developing a countywide food policy for the update to the Horizon 2020 comprehensive plan for the city of Lawrence and Douglas County. The food policy plan, which is to be completed this spring, will outline policies for such things as ordinances that allow urban agriculture, zoning for agriculture production, economic development incentives to support new food and farm businesses and zoning to allow farm-worker housing.

The efforts in support of the local food producers, from large to small, is an example of Extension’s economic development role, Bates said. The success of urban and small-plot agricultural entrepreneurs provides economic and lifestyle benefits for county residents, he said.

Extension also heads the E-Commerce efforts to aid economic development in Baldwin City, Eudora and Lecompton.

The economic development activity is all part of Extension’s effort to improve the quality of life of county residents, Bates said.

“A lot of people didn’t know much about us when they first contacted us and now we are their biggest resource,” he said. “We are here to serve you if you have needs. If we can assist you, we will. If we can’t, you can bet we will put you in touch with someone who can.”