Newtown resident Kerri Mubarek, the town’s new purchasing director, is bringing more than 30 years of purchasing experience to the position.

While her prior experience in purchasing was not with a municipality, she has worked in the private sector for Ethan Allen purchasing hand knitted rugs, Caldor’s purchasing women’s clothing, at Duty Free Shops purchasing liquor and other goods, and for Eastern Mountain Sports purchasing sporting goods.

“My background is diverse,” said Mubarek, who started about three weeks ago. “I’ve never purchased a fire truck, but I’m up for the task.”

Mubarek said she has been settling in to the position and “asking lots of questions” on processes and procedures, and even getting to answer some questions.

“I’m asking questions, finding partners, and working through the process,” said Mubarek.

She said she has “met a lot of great people,” such as Public Works Director Fred Hurley and Land Use Director George Benson, and she said she is currently working on a number of projects for the town.

Among the projects she is currently involved with are the Edmond Town Hall parking lot project, located at the former firehouse at 45 Main Street, and buying equipment for emergency communications compounds in town to help the police department and fire companies “make sure all points in town are covered with their radios.”

She is also working on the Sandy Hook Heritage Trail; storage tank improvements at Fairfield Hills; the Hawley HVAC project; and bidding out cleaning services at the municipal center. Another responsibility involves purchasing legal notices for the town in The Newtown Bee.

Mubarek is originally from New Fairfield, and she said growing up Newtown was “always the rival school.”

She said she’d often come to Newtown High School as part of her school’s diving team. Like many from the area, she often came to Newtown for other reasons, and bought her prom dress from Julie Allen’s.

Mubarek has lived in Sandy Hook with her husband for 27 years and they raised their twin daughters in town. Her daughters just graduated college.

While she initially dreamed of being a nurse after working in a dentist’s office in high school, while attending college she realized she didn’t know if that’s what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.

She said her parents advised her to find what she really loved doing, and in considering her love of travel, she found she liked the idea of purchasing.

“I changed my major and never looked back,” said Mubarek. “I’m really happy. I knew that nursing was more than I wanted to take on. My sister and daughter became nurses, but it wasn’t for me.”

She said with purchasing, she loved digging into the parts of a project — the buttons on a shirt, or the type of wool used in a rug.

Associate Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.