EAST SPENCER — For the first time in its history, the town has hired a financial director, a sign that East Spencer’s growth is not only strong, but expected to last.

On Oct. 1, Ashley McFarland of Charlotte joined the town’s management team as its first finance director, and she could not be happier.

McFarland graduated with a degree in financial management and administration from N.C. Central University in 2016. She grew up in Goldsboro, and moved to Charlotte in 2017 after her graduation.

But finding a job in the world of finance proved challenging, so she spent time working as a nanny while continuing to look. Then a friend told her about East Spencer, the job and the community, and she “felt like it was the right opportunity.”

Since starting, McFarland said it has been a lot of training and a lot of learning the town and its needs, but she is getting to put her own stamp on the position as well.

“The job and I can grow together, which is exciting,” she said. One of her first priorities was getting the town up to date with audits, which should be complete in the next week or two. At this point, she has all the information gathered and sorted, so she is now getting it put into an Excel spreadsheet, the final step. She’s also worked on creating a unified format for collecting information and inputting it into a singular system as the year goes on, rather than having to get it all together at one time.

Her other priority is exploring available grants and when appropriate, making sure the town applies, something Town Manager Michael Douglas is also happy about.

“I think it’s phenomenal that we have a finance director,” said Douglas. The town’s budget and funding have both increased, with East Spencer getting large state grants and CDBG funds, “but we didn’t have the capacity to hire someone in house. We contracted our financial management out.” He said it was not that there was anything wrong with the company they used, but it did mean the town had to share the company’s time and attention. Now, with an in-house director, McFarland can focus on East Spencer exclusively, getting to know the town’s needs and what is important to the community.

“Audits, grants, funding sources, she will have the time and the direction to focus on all of those,” Douglas said. He said the goal, down the road, will also be for the finance director to be able to offer guidance in drafting the budget, since she will have become well versed in how the budget flows as well as upcoming needs and priorities.

When the town voted to create the position earlier this fall, Mayor Barbara Mallett said she was “so proud of East Spencer for the progress we have made and are making. To reach the point where we are ready to hire someone to manage our finances, just for us, is a big step, but one that should make people feel good.”

McFarland is working to create a full program for the town, and she and Douglas said they have met with the town of Spencer for some advice and guidance.

“They’ve been great about sharing information on what we need, how we need to manage things, just very helpful,” said Douglas.

“We’re still in a learning phase,” said McFarland, “but we just have a few weeks of actual training left. Then we can begin to craft our program in earnest.”