Montana Department of Transportation Director Chris Dorrington is leaving the role Oct. 1 for a job in the private sector, the governor’s office announced in a Monday morning press release.
Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte is expected to announce Dorrington’s replacement in the coming weeks, the release continued.
Dorrington was appointed by Gianforte to lead the transportation agency in June 2024. Before that, he was director of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality for roughly three years, starting in 2021 when Gianforte appointed him shortly after taking office. He also spent a decade from 2006 to 2016 in a leadership role within the Department of Transportation’s planning division.
Gianforte called Dorrington a “changemaker” in Monday’s press release. Gianforte used the same language in 2024 when he announced that Dorrington would lead the transportation department.
“His exceptional ability to lead made lasting impacts at the DEQ and MDT,” Gianforte said in today’s press release. “From reducing permitting backlogs to ensuring we had the right leaders in each agency division to best serve the people of Montana, Dorrington always stepped up to the plate. His commitment to efficiency and customer service will continue to serve the state for years to come. I wish Chris great success in his future endeavors and thank him for his years of dedicated service with the administration.”
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State environmental quality director appointed to lead highway department
The office of Gov. Greg Gianforte has announced that Chris Dorrington, a longtime state official who has led the Montana Department of Environmental Quality since 2021, will be taking the helm at the Montana Department of Transportation. Current DEQ division administrator Sonja Nowakowski will be promoted to DEQ director.
Dorrington did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. His new job in the private sector has not been announced.
“I have worked hard for the citizens, our stakeholders and our agency staff,” Dorrington said in the press release. “For 20 years absolutely great things have been accomplished by dedicated, intelligent and hard-working people I have been blessed to work alongside. My greatest hope is that everyone I’ve worked with will continue to hold our work and the importance of our relationships in the highest regard.”
Dorrington was known around the Capitol building for delivering quirky presentations to the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee, in which he used Easter basket grass and Tupperware to explain “full-time equivalencies” and budgeted positions within state government. One lobbyist once called it “his famous FTE presentation.”
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