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County IT director praised for leadership under fire after Helene

Henderson County IT Director Mark Seelenbacher, who was named IT Professional of the Year by the North Carolina Local Government Information Systems Association, praised his team of ‘rock stars’ who stepped up to restore communications after Hurricane Helene.

By Bill Moss, Published: June 30, 2025

When Hurricane Helene cast Henderson County and all of Western North Carolina into a communications blackout, it was up to Mark Seelenbacher to get communications networks back up and running.

For his work to make that happen, Seelenbacher was named the Information Technology Professional of the Year by the North Carolina Local Government Information Systems Association. Amy Walker, the IT director for Ashe County public schools and a past winner of the state award, recognized Seelenbacher during a meeting of the Henderson County Board of Commissioners last month.

“Mark is very deserving of this prestigious award. He shows outstanding leadership, is a technical and cyber genius, and is unwavering in his dedication to Henderson County local government, the NCLGISA strike team, as well as to support the IT profession and his peers during the aftermath of Hurricane Helene,” Walker said, reading from one of several letters nominating Seelenbacher for the award. “He not only led the local government in disaster recovery, but he also provided support to K-16 (schools) and those in surrounding counties.

“As chief technology officer for Henderson County government, Mark spearheaded the restoration and stabilization of critical IT infrastructure following the devastating impact of the hurricane. When the storm hit, it severely disrupted communications, emergency services and connectivity throughout the county. Thanks to Mark, his team, his leadership and his ability to lead in a real-time crisis — as well as the proactive measures that he already had in place — systems were brought back online in record time, ensuring first responders and municipal operations had the digital tools they needed to serve the public effectively.

“Mark is compassionate, witty, thoughtful and he is an amazing peer to all of us. He’s an exceptional IT leader. He’s reliable, and he’s a friend to all.”

‘Peer recognition means an awful lot’

When he received the award at NCLGISA’s spring conference, “I was really floored,” Seelenbacher said. “I wasn’t expecting it at all,” so he declined to make remarks.

“But what I will say is that I’m a firm believer that a manager, supervisor, department head is only as good as the people they manage and I am extremely fortunate to manage a team of rock stars,” he said during the June 18 meeting of the Board of Commissioners. “Every single one of them during the hurricane stepped up, despite their own hardships, with a smile. And not a single one of them ever said, ‘That’s not my job. I don’t know how to do it.’ It was, ‘What’s next, what needs to be done?’ And they showed up and did the job.

“I couldn’t have this team without the support of the county administration and the Board of Commissioners, who put their trust and faith in me to run the networks for the county and make sure that our first responders and our public-facing departments can do the job they need to do,” he added.

Board of Commissioners Chair Bill Lapsley thanked Seelenbacher and the county’s IT team for their work.

“From my years of experience, there’s nothing more important than to be recognized by your peers for the work that you do when you dedicate your life to a career in a particular area,” he said. “It’s peer recognition, from my perspective, that means an awful lot.”