The Brunswick and Glynn County Development Authority has selected Mel Baxter to serve as the new president of the community's economic development organization. He has been serving as interim executive director since 2015. The Chason Group served as the executive search firm for the development authority.

Thirty-five candidates submitted resumes for the position. Applicants came from 12 different states with varying backgrounds. The Chason Group sought candidates who best fit the character traits identified by community leaders
during stakeholder interviews. The interviews were conducted prior to the executive search by Tim Chason and Randy Cardoza of The Chason Group. Those key traits included economic development and marketing experience as well as skill sets in terms of leadership, relationship building and communications.

"It is very humbling to be able to do this,” according to Baxter. “I am a lifelong resident and to think that I could raise a family and have a career here ... and now this position - it's very fulfilling. I look forward to continuing my work of creating jobs and investments for Brunswick and Glynn County."

Baxter has been a part of the economic team in the community for several years. He served two, three-year terms as a member of the board. Previously, he served as president and CEO of United Community Bank in Brunswick. Baxter had been in the banking industry for 26 years.

“We went through a very extensive search process, where we interviewed five people including Mel, then four candidates were interviewed twice,” according to Bruce Dixon, chair of the development authority. “We had some very good applicants.”

“When it came down to the final recommendation by the board after considering all of the skills from those four candidates in the second round, out of the group, we felt Mel gave us the best opportunity for success,” he said.

Dixon says he and the members of the development authority feel confident in their choice moving forward. “If we had just gone ahead and changed him from interim to permanent ... to president, we could have second-guessed ourselves or others could have. Now everyone knows that we found the best candidate,” he said.