SPENCER — Terence Arrington will become Spencer’s new town manager beginning Oct. 15.

Arrington, 35, was selected after an extensive search by the Board of Aldermen. According to town officials, he brings strong experience in fiscal management, operations, project management, business development, strategic planning, downtown development and capital planning that will help shape the town.

The Board of Aldermen offered him the job after a closed session on Sept. 25. The board had five finalists for the position and interviewed two candidates, Mayor Jim Gobbel said. During Arrington’s interview, board members were taken with the way he presented himself, his energy and his poise.

‘That impressed every one of us,” Gobbel said.

The town board offered Arrington a three-year contract with a salary of $65,000 per year.

Arrington, a Charlotte native, said he was drawn to the position because of his familiarity with the area and close family ties.

“So it was a combination of things that really piqued my interest in the town,” he said.

He has experience in both urban and rural municipal government — a good combination for a town like Spencer, which is hoping to increase growth.

Arrington comes to Spencer from BB&T Bank, where he was a senior mortgage servicing analyst. Before that, he worked for Darlington County, South Carolina, as a county administrator; the city of Salisbury, Maryland, as deputy city administrator; Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as International City Managers Association local government manager; and the city of Charlotte as a business office administrator.

Once he begins work, Arrington said he plans to get to know the town and the board and will do a “litmus test” to determine what direction the town should go.

“We really need to start looking at what we want to do in the next three to five years. … In the grand scheme of things, what do we want to be when we grow up?” Arrington said.

He also has experience writing grant proposals, a skill the town has been looking for.

“That’s one of the things we’d talked about as a board several times, having a grant writer, a real good grant writer,” Gobbel said.

The board expects Arrington to focus on moving the Park Plaza project forward and on improving the quality of life for Spencer residents.

“He understood that, and that’s part of his responsibility,” Gobbel said.

“They’re on the right path,” Arrington said of town leaders. “It just takes some time when you’re a small town. But we’ll get there.”

Arrington said he plans to focus on community engagement.

“How can we get the community involved, how can we bring everybody together?” he asked.

Arrington has a master’s degree in public administration from Walden University and a bachelor of science degree in international business from Strayer University. He has a public manager certification from Arizona State University and project management professional certificate from Greenville Technical College.

Arrington currently lives in Greenville, South Carolina, with his wife and daughter. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling, spending time with family and meeting people. He plans to relocate to the Spencer area and said he’s eager to get started.

“I definitely look forward to working collaboratively with the county and the city to see how we can share resources and really work well together,” he said.

“We’ve got confidence in him and think he’s going to make us a real fine town manager,” Gobbel said.

Contact reporter Rebecca Rider at 704-797-4264.