Committee rejects expansion of Beaufort County EDC board; amendment for added county seat also fails

Kelly Brunson, senior project manager for the Beaufort County Economic Development Corporation, presented a bylaws amendment to increase private‑sector board representation to 9 members to bolster succession and leadership capacity. Brunson said the organization has added new committed members and that the change would help fill leadership roles; "My name is Kelly Brunson. I'm the senior project manager for BC EDC," she told the committee as she described the request.

Committee members voiced differing views. One council member noted that the county provides the largest share of funding to the EDC and asked why county representation is limited, saying the county supplies most of the funding for the agency. An amendment that would have increased the board to 17 members while designating one of the new seats as a county voting member failed on roll call (4–6), and the original motion to expand to 17 also failed on roll call (5–4). The EDC representatives said they will take committee feedback back to the BCEDC board and discuss the bylaws at their Oct. 15 meeting.