MADISON COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) – For the first time in 10 years, Madison County has a new County Commission chairman. Former Alabama Speaker of the House Mac McCutcheon was officially sworn in on Wednesday.

“This means a lot to me, to be here. It really does,” he said.

With McCutcheon at the helm of the county, it marks the first change in leadership in more than 10 years. Former chairman Dale Strong took the office in 2012 and remained in that role until he became a U.S. Congressman.

McCutcheon was then appointed to the role on January 31. He says he has a lot on his to-do list.

“Infrastructure for transportation in our county, and so I’ve been working on that. Then I’ve been working on the budgets, which has been a big thing, but of course, it’s been a learning curve.”

The chairman says he has been doing his best to get up to speed on what’s going on in the county. Wednesday morning he led his first county commission meeting, acknowledging that he’s learning as he goes along.

McCutcheon says one of the biggest challenges that lies ahead for the county is managing growth and ensuring a quality of life is maintained for both new and old residents.

“Right now we’re being blessed by the growth and the revenues, but with that comes a lot of challenges to providing services, and we need to be planning ahead. We want to make sure that that standard stay’s high, and people are taken care of.”

McCutcheon, alongside his wife, was sworn in by Judge Frank Barger.

The next Madison County Commission meeting is slated for Wednesday, March 1.