February 02, 2010
Veteran economic and business developer tapped to lead Warren County economic development

Papa brings more than 25 years experience in all facets of economic and business development, including downtown revitalization, site certification, engineering, entitlement, marketing, construction and site management for commercial, industrial and mixed-use projects. He has extensive hands-on experience managing multi-million-dollar capital projects.

EDC Chairman Ernie Fleming said Papa stood out among all other applicants not only for his expertise but for his extensive research on the county’s economic needs, opportunities and current strategies prior to his interview with commission members.  

“He was the only person who came to the interview who had taken the time and interest when applying for the job to make sure he knew where he was applying,” Fleming said. “He had spent the extra time to give us a 90-day plan for what he wanted to implement to move this county forward.”

“Warren County is a unique county,” Fleming added. “Being a rural county we spend the extra time and effort to make sure if anyone starts looking at us, we have what they need. We have brought up test scores in our schools and are continuing those educational improvements. The EDC wanted to hire someone who was interested in helping us move forward, not just someone who needed a job.”

Papa said his 90-day action plan is designed to identify the strategic assets the county can offer businesses and develop a strategic plan of action. First steps are to connect with the many partners who are critical for economic development success to learn all he can before proceeding. Those partners and organizations include chambers of commerce, regional economic developers, community college staff, and local business and community leaders.

“My focus and goal is take an inventory of everything that exists, get up to speed on the opportunities that are out there, and then move forward,” Papa said. “There are so many opportunities. I’m excited to get to work.”

Papa began work Jan. 18, replacing former EDC director John Church. Papa previously worked as director of new market development for Helm Builders in Apex; manager of planning and business development for ESP Associates in Raleigh; president and managing partner for WKL Consulting Services Inc. in Hagerstown, Md., and Raleigh; and vice president and managing partner for Fox & Associates Inc., an engineering planning and consulting firm in Hagerstown.
He was appointed by the governor of Maryland to serve in several key state posts. He was named to the Maryland Economic Growth, Resource Protection and Planning Commission because of his expertise in zoning matters and served from 1992-2000. He served on the Maryland State Growth Planning Commission, which was responsible for establishing growth management policy for all state agencies and all city and county governments. He worked closely with jurisdictions across Maryland to implement smart-growth provisions into their planning documents and worked in partnership with the Department of Economic and Business Development to assess the state’s competitive advantage over neighboring states.

Papa earned a bachelor’s degree in urban and regional planning from East Carolina University and a master’s of business administration from Frostburg (Md.) State University. He is a member of the North Carolina Economic Developers Association, Wake County Homebuilders Association, Warren County, Cary and Fuquay-Varina chambers of commerce, N.C. Chapter of the American Planning Association, N.C. Association of Zoning Officials, Triangle Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, Society of American Military Engineers, Triangle Community Coalition and Rotary International.

The Warren County EDC manages economic development and tourism for Warren County, N.C, part of the 13-county Research Triangle Region of North, which is home to the world-renowned The Research Triangle Park™.  For more information on growing a business in Warren County, visit www.WarrenCountyNC.org or contact the EDC office at (252) 257-3114 or fpapa@WarrenCountyNC.org.