CANAAN — Chester “Chet” Hagenbarth will be Canaan’s new full-time town administrator, the Selectboard announced last week.

Originally from New Jersey, Hagenbarth and his family have lived in Killington since 1994. He spent 11 years working for the town of Killington, first as its public works director and then as town manager.

Hagenbarth said his background in financial planning and his analytical and technical way of approaching problems will be a good fit for Canaan. He believes in transparency and “nuts-and-bolts” thinking that’s based on “facts, not feelings,” he said in a Tuesday interview.

He sees his task, which begins Feb. 27, as guiding the town toward developing a unified vision for its future.

“My job is to help them find their path and take ownership of it,” he said, “not to tell them what to do.”

Hagenbarth has a construction and engineering background, and while living in New Jersey, he and his family often came to Killington to ski. When he was looking for a change of pace in a more rural location, the choice to move to Vermont seemed obvious.

He plans to live in Killington for the time being but says that a move to New Hampshire might be in the future.

Canaan has been without a permanent town administrator since last May, when Ned Connell departed after less than a year in office.

Connell, who had replaced longtime Town Administrator Mike Samson, now works as a transportation planner for the Nashua Planning Commission.

In a tight labor market for municipal administrators, the town went through a lengthy search that included two rounds of candidate interviews before hiring Hagensbarth.

The Selectboard has been working with Plymouth, N.H.-based Municipal Resources, Inc., or MRI, to facilitate the search. Jack Woznak, of MRI, has been serving as Canaan’s interim town administrator, working two days a week in the town offices.

Christina Dolan can be reached at cdolan@vnews.com or 603-727-3208.