Suzette Cloutier is on the move in Woolwich from one side of the busy town office to the other. A year after becoming the town’s tax collector she’s been promoted to town administrator.

The select board picked Cloutier to succeed Lynette Eastman who retired in June after serving 10 years in the job.

Cloutier said she couldn’t be happier with her new job. She looks forward to coming to work every day and greets everyone with a friendly hello and bright smile.

“Suzette has a wonderful personality. She’s very enthusiastic and positive about learning her new responsibilities,” Select Board Chairman David King Jr. said. “I have a lot of confidence in her and know she’ll do her very best every day for the town of Woolwich.”

Selectman Dale Chadbourne told the Wiscasset Newspaper, Cloutier was among several candidates who applied for the position after it was advertised. “She was the best choice in my mind. She knows the townspeople from having worked here over the last year and has a really nice personality. There’s a learning curve that comes with the position but she’s adjusting well to her new responsibilities.”

In her previous duties as tax collector, Cloutier had completed Maine Municipal Association classes in excise tax collecting and municipal law for tax collectors and treasurers. Since assuming the duties of town administrator, she has attended an MMA workshop for new town managers and administrators and recently attended a conference for human resources management. Because her new duties also require her to serve as town treasurer, she’s attending a basic accounting class.

“Everyone has been very welcoming and patient during the transition,” Cloutier said. “There’s been a lot of changes here at the town office the past few weeks with more still to come.”

Katie Johnston of Bath was recently hired to fill Cloutier’s former position as tax collector and on Aug. 10 Mary Howe will assume the town clerk’s duties following the retirement of Janice Bradford.

The town office also recently expanded its hours and is now open five days a week for car, boat and snowmobile registrations, hunting and fishing licenses and other town business. The new hours are Monday and Tuesday from 9 a.m to 5 p.m., Wednesday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Friday 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Cloutier grew up in the Bath-Brunswick area.  After graduating from Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham, she attended Andover College in Portland where she earned an associate's degree in criminal justice/law enforcement administration. Her first job in law enforcement was as a radio dispatcher for the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Department. After six years there, she left in 2006 to become a communication officer for Cumberland County. Along the way, she trained in paramedics and was a part-time emergency medical technician (EMT) for North East Mobile Health. She became Woolwich’s tax collector in July 2016.

Cloutier and her husband Philip reside in Topsham. They have two grown sons and a daughter, who is 15.