The new Brownwood Economic Development Corporation executive director was appointed by City Manager Bobby Rountree after unanimous approval of the Brownwood City Council on Tuesday. Guy Andrews was selected by the BEDC Board and current BEDC Executive Director Emily Crawford after interviews of eight applicants for the position.
Andrews comes to Brownwood from Odessa, having worked most recently with Saulsbury Industries as their executive director of communications and organizational development. He brings not only industrial but also retail development experience to the position, having also worked as the Director of Economic Development for the Odessa Chamber of Commerce and as the Community Development Director for the City of Conroe for several years, where he led an initiative to make Conroe a “developer friendly” city through city planning, ordinance review and streamlined permitting.Prior to his career in economic development, Andrews also worked with AT&T in various management positions including external affairs, human resources, and finance.
“We are very impressed with Guy, he brings with him a tremendous resume,” said Crawford. “Just from personal experience in dealing with him over the past month, he is an excellent communicator, he is highly professional, and he does have a good sense of humor that will fit in well with us.”
The terms of his employment are base pay of $90,000 per year and $500 per month car allowance.
Mayor Stephen Haynes explained that he had the privilege and opportunity to meet Andrews when he sat in on an interview with him. He welcomed Andrews to Brownwood, stating, “I was certainly impressed and very happy to have a candidate with EDC experience and certainly from an area of the state that we consider a sort of ‘sister city’ in Midland/Odessa. As you well know we have a lot of traffic that comes through here for hunting, fishing and lake purposes from Midland and Odessa and we feel like that gives you a unique insight to what Brownwood is and how we operate and where some of our key markets may be, so we are very excited to have someone with that type of experience.”
Andrews stated that he and his wife Valerie researched cities where he would apply for jobs. He stated that Brownwood was appealing in many ways, and it was a community where the two of them decided they could invest a part of their life.
“I love the slogan, ‘Feels like Home,’ because it (Brownwood) does, and that is the essence of it. You want to be some place that feels like it is home and is a place where you can raise a family. It’s not just about the economy itself. It is about the quality of life and that sort of thing,” he said.
Andrews explained that he was impressed with the economic development website and how much potential he saw in Brownwood. “It’s just a great community; you’ve got industry with 3M and Kohler, Superior and others. That is a good basis to attract other industry and for the town, bring good paying jobs to the community and that sort of thing,” said Andrews. “There’s also a lot of potential on the retirement side.” He explained that there are a lot of people on the edge of retirement in Odessa and that his connections will help to bring some of those to the community, which will be good for the community, adding to the property tax base.
Andrews stated that he felt he brought to the position a unique background in site development and economic development, which work hand in hand. This experience and knowing how those work, he will be able to “sell the city” to bring people and industries to Brownwood. The most important experience Andrews feels he has to offer is knowing how to listen and involve the community in his work. He stated that using connections of other members of the community will help not only bring more people, but also generate new ideas for growth in the community.
Andrews expressed his excitement for his new position and making a home in Brownwood, “There’s just so much potential here, it’s a great community.”
Pictured above are Andrews and Crawford after the council meeting Tuesday.
