Kay to take over reins of Myrtle Beach Economic Development Corp.

The Grand Strand’s industry recruitment agency named a Santee Cooper official as its new CEO on Monday.

Josh Kay, Santee Cooper’s director of economic development, will begin work as president of the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corp. on Nov. 2.

“We’re going to do some great things,” Kay, 36, said. “My goal is to be there 10, 15, 20 years.”

Kay will replace Jim Moore, who resigned in June after less than six months on the job.

After reviewing more than two dozen applications, the EDC pared the list of candidates down to five finalists, said Fred Richardson, chairman of the EDC’s board. A search committee gave Kay the highest marks.

“He’s a total professional,” Richardson said. “Dynamic. Got the experience. He’s got relationships. Those kinds of things made him stand out.”

Kay’s background includes nearly 15 years in local government and business recruitment. He grew up near Clinton and graduated from Presbyterian College in 2002. During his time at Presbyterian, which is in Clinton, Kay served as an intern assisting the city manager. He later worked as a fundraiser for the college before becoming Clinton’s assistant city manager. He took the city manager’s post in 2007.

From there, he went to Washington, N.C., in 2011 where he served as city manager until taking the Santee Cooper job two and a half years ago.

While working for the state-run utility, Kay was part of the team that helped bring Volvo to Berkeley County. That project, announced earlier this year, is expected to generate 2,000 jobs and a $500 million capital investment.

“We are excited to have someone of his caliber, knowledge and extensive background in economic development and government,” Horry County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus said in a news release announcing Kay’s hiring. “With his experience and background, he will do an awesome job.”

At the EDC, Kay will be paid $135,000 per year and will be eligible for bonuses if he reaches certain job creation benchmarks, Richardson said.

The EDC did not formally vote to hire Kay. Richardson, who served as interim CEO during the search, said he informed the board at its last meeting that he would be making Kay an offer based on the search committee’s recommendations.

Although no contract has been signed, Richardson said the EDC plans to enter into a one-year agreement with Kay.

The deal is a change of pace for EDC leaders, who requested and received a one-year contract extension from Horry County Council in September despite signing a new two-year funding agreement over the summer.

The bulk of the EDC’s budget (more than $1 million per year) comes from Horry County Council, and the county tracks the hiring of the companies that receive local incentives.

EDC and county leaders said the contract extension was necessary because they expected the next CEO to ask for a three-year employment contract.

Kay said he didn’t request a longer agreement because he wanted the EDC to have an exit strategy if they didn’t like where the organization was heading.

“I want to be there for a while,” he said. “But at the same time, I’m also very cognizant [that] if the deal is not working out, then I don’t want to hamstring the community to be able to get out of that deal.”

Richardson wants Kay’s tenure to be a long one.

“I hope he’s here for 10 years,” he said.

One of Kay’s qualities that EDC leaders found appealing was his local government experience.

“That was a strong factor,” Richardson said. “It really was. He brought a unique set of talents to the table. He’s worked for local governments directly. ... He’ll know how to deal with the county and cities.”

Kay will be the EDC’s third CEO since the agency reorganized five years ago. During that time, the organization has seen mixed success.

The first industry expansion the EDC announced was for AvCraft Technical Services, which filed for bankruptcy in March. Another, Ithaca Gun Company, never signed a contract with the EDC and withdrew from the area. Other firms have been slow to hire or have seen setbacks, including layoffs.

But the EDC has also seen successes. A Star Tek call center has welcomed more than 340 employees and has committed to hiring 615. BauschLinnemann has hired 57 and Frontier Communications added 132 jobs.

Seven companies with county contracts are in various stages of hiring. Most of the local incentives money set aside for these businesses has not been spent because the jobs haven’t been created yet, according to county records.

Kay said he hopes to not only attract outside companies to Horry but also help those businesses already here.

“There’s just a tremendous amount of opportunities in Horry County — for our current industry but also for new industry and new businesses,” he said. “I just want to be a part of the team that recruits those folks and helps the existing industries and businesses expand.”

One of the challenges past economic developers have faced is recruiting companies to a county without key transportation infrastructure, such as an interstate or major port. Kay said he’s planning to sell business owners on the workforce and the community.

“It’s got everything to do with people,” he said. “It’s the high quality of education: the K-12, the technical college, Coastal Carolina. It is partnerships that we’ve got, public and private. So it really goes back to the people. That is really what’s going to drive a decision ... for an industry.”

The new leader also plans to continue the EDC’s push to find smaller manufacturers.

“High quality, low quantity manufacturing,” Kay said. “These are very high skilled, above average wage manufacturing, but their product can go out on one FedEx truck or one semi-truck a day rather than a heavy plastics manufacturer. So we have to take the assets that we do have and utilize those.”

Kay lives in Summerville with his wife and two daughters. He plans to move his family to the area when the school semester ends.

This story was originally published October 19, 2015 at 10:06 AM with the headline "Kay to take over reins of Myrtle Beach Economic Development Corp.."