Greg Puckett is a native southern West Virginian with a passion for community! As an alumnus of Princeton Senior High School and Concord College, Greg has worked diligently with communities across the country to bring in special projects and initiatives in the hopes of preventing the use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs amongst youth and their families. He has also been an integral part of several community revitalization and conservation initiatives.

Although he has held a number of positions in the local community prior to serving as County Commissioner, he is currently the Executive Director of Community Connections Inc. (CCI) (the County’s Family Resource Network), where he continually reaches across county and state lines to help guide the prevention and community building process. As such, he currently serves on several state committees including the Governors Committee on Crime, Delinquency and Correction: Juvenile Justice Subcommittee, Governor’s Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service, the Governor’s Tobacco Prevention Taskforce, and is one of a team of local businesses and individuals passionately dedicated to revitalization and economic stabilization through the Princeton Renaissance Project (a partnership with the West Virginia HUB initiative).

Since being elected as County Commissioner in November 2014, Greg has worked in cooperation with other Commissioners to re-establish the Mercer County Planning Commission, expanded the litter control efforts to establish the nationally recognized and award winning Keep Mercer Clean Campaign, established tighter policies and ordinances to insure accountability, and, worked to pay off the county debt to our regional jail. Together, the Commission has invested nearly $1 million into our county park, worked to expand technology within the courthouse, formulated funding to local law enforcement to gain competitive balance, increased economic mobility, and bolstered new and strengthened existing community based partnerships.

He currently serves on the Mercer County 911 Board of Directors, Board member with the Mercer County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, a Planning Commissioner, and actively promotes expansion of the King Coal Highway. He serves on the Board of the West Virginia Communities Risk Pool Board, and has been added to the County Commission Association of West Virginia (CCAWV) Board of Directors and Legislative Committee.

Greg serves the county nationally on the Board of Directors with the National Association of Counties (NACo), and is Chair of the Rural Action Caucus, the largest representation of rural county government in the Country. He is currently Vice Chair of NACo’s Healthy Counties Initiative, and was previous Chair of the Mental Health Subcommittee. He serves on NACo’s Arts and Culture Subcommittee as Vice Chair and has served at one of only ten County Commissioners on the National Opioid Taskforce (a partnership with the National League of Cities), and is one of 20 Commissioners currently serving on NACo’s economic Mobility Taskforce.

Greg was formerly on the National Coalition Advisory Committee for CADCA (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America) and was promoted to Secretary of the Board of Directors in 2018. He works in close partnership with Federal Legislators and other national organizations such as SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to carry out a host of national initiatives and pilot programs.

In July 2021, Commissioner Puckett was awarded the National Public Leadership in the Arts Award for County Arts Leadership by the Americans for the Arts.

In May 2020, Commissioner Puckett was awarded the Louis Gorin Award for Outstanding Achievement in Rural Health by the National Rural Health Association. This national award was in response to his efforts in local, statewide, and national advocacy for the betterment of overall public health.

He volunteers to coach swimming to area high schoolers in nearby Wytheville, Virginia, and is the proud father of two kids (Lauren and Joseph) that keep him dedicated to making positive change happen, and leaving a legacy for the next generation to follow.

Commissioner Puckett serves as the Region III representative.