Travis Rothweiler has served as the City Manager of Twin Falls, Idaho, since 2011. With more than 25 years in municipal leadership, he has guided the city through transformative growth, economic expansion, and strategic planning. Previously, he held leadership roles in the City of Jerome, Idaho, and has been with Twin Falls since 2008. His leadership is defined by collaboration, innovation, and a commitment to cultivating a high-performing organizational culture.
Professional Background and Role
I am entering my 25th year in this profession. I joined the City of Twin Falls in 2008 and became City Manager in 2011, after beginning my career with the City of Jerome, Idaho. The primary responsibility of any city manager is to oversee day-to-day operations, implement council directives, engage with stakeholders and community members, and foster partnerships that move the city forward.
For me, some of the most rewarding work has been strengthening our internal organization. The men and women on our team are on the front lines, shaping outcomes and achieving goals that I could never accomplish alone.
Technology for Efficiency and Citizen Services
Communication with citizens and stakeholders is one of the most important aspects of my work. We use a range of platforms, from traditional press releases to multiple social media channels, to ensure broad engagement. Data plays a key role in guiding decision-making. Through priority-based budgeting, we ensure that resources are allocated to programs that matter most, even as funding becomes more constrained each year. Citizen surveys, offered both on paper and electronically, allow residents to evaluate our performance and help us refine programs and services to meet expectations.
Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you, empower them fully, and then trust them to do their jobs. That is when real progress happens.
Internally, we have shifted to digital systems such as Laserfiche and SharePoint to reduce paper use and streamline employee communications, benefits enrollment, and information access. Looking ahead, I have asked my team to explore how we can responsibly integrate AI into frontline operations. With Twin Falls at full employment and our community continuing to grow, technology is critical to maintaining high-quality service even when staffing is limited.
Community-Driven Visioning and Strategic Planning
In 2012, we overhauled our strategic planning process. Until then, the city’s plan functioned more like an annual work plan. We wanted to set a true long-term vision, so we began asking: what will it take to become the community our citizens want by 2030?
Through community engagement sessions, online surveys, and stakeholder conversations, we identified eight core focus areas. Those priorities guided projects, policies, capital budgeting, and staffing decisions. We updated the plan again in 2017, and today we are extending our vision to 2040. This latest effort included 50 stakeholder conversations, internal organizational reviews, community roundtables, and open houses. All feedback will be presented to the council in a workshop this month, where we will define new goals, desired outcomes, and a roadmap to guide the fiscal year 2027 budget and future policy discussions.
Economic Development and Measurable Impact
Economic development has been a central focus during my tenure. While I cannot take credit for all the successes, I am proud of the collaborative efforts that have transformed our economy. Major companies like Chobani and Clif Bar (now part of Mondelēz) chose Twin Falls for significant facilities. Chobani built what was then the world’s largest Greek yogurt plant—over a million square feet—directly creating more than a thousand jobs and sparking additional agricultural growth. Today, Chobani is undertaking another expansion worth between $800 million and $1 billion, further benefiting our dairy producers and the local economy.
Clif Bar’s energy bar facility, along with other food manufacturers like ConAgra, has strengthened Twin Falls’ reputation as a hub for value-added food production. These investments have brought food scientists, research and development teams, and innovation into our community, building on our agricultural roots.
The city’s taxable value has grown from about $2.1 billion in 2013 to more than $7 billion last year. This growth means more jobs, a broader tax base, and a more resilient economy. Downtown redevelopment has also flourished, with more than $17 million invested in revitalization and over $180 million in capital infrastructure since 2015.
Maintaining Alignment Across a Large Workforce
With more than 350 employees across multiple departments, creating a unified culture has been one of our greatest successes. We have been intentional about building a high-performing organizational culture, and this has been a journey spanning more than a decade.
We are now in our 11th cohort of 20 to 25 individuals who participate in a program designed to identify opportunities beyond their job descriptions. Employees are encouraged to contribute their ideas and expertise in shaping how the city operates. We also have a long-term planning committee made up of cross-department representatives. They help shape the annual budget, anticipate future needs, and bring specialized knowledge to complex decisions. Success comes when employees—from the front lines to executives—are empowered to contribute to decisions that affect a community serving more than 100,000 people every day.
Just this morning, I shared with our team why we exist as a city, what we aim to achieve, and what expectations we have for one another. That intentional focus on culture is the foundation for our ability to serve the community effectively.
Advice for Municipal Leaders
My biggest piece of advice is to surround yourself with people who are smarter than you, empower them fully, and then trust them to do their jobs. That is when real progress happens. Train, mentor, and coach them, involve them in planning, and then trust them to deliver.
Some of the best decisions in Twin Falls have come from the ground up—from those closest to the work who understood its impact. As city managers, we are trained to make difficult decisions, but that does not mean we should make all the decisions. When authority is shared and teams are empowered, cities become unstoppable in finding better solutions.
