NEWS - Economic Development

SBJ Staff Report

1/11/2010 - At the Savannah Economic Development Authority’s (SEDA) January board of director’s annual meeting, Brian R. Foster, in his last act as chairman, passed the gavel to Thomas C. Hester, division president of The Coastal Bank, as incoming chairman. 

Foster has been a SEDA board member for six years, serving as its chairman for the past two years. As part of SEDA’s bylaws, he will now move off the board and will be nominated to serve on the SEDA Advisory Board of 2010.

Under Foster’s leadership from January 2008 to January 2010, the authority helped to create approximately 1,200 jobs and attract $375 million in investment, according to SEDA. In remarks thanking the staff for its hard work during his tenure, he pointed to the announcement that Mitsubishi Power Systems will locate at Savannah’s megasite as an achievement during his tenure that he’s proud of. “There were a lot of trips to Atlanta to secure that deal,” he said.

Many in economic leadership in the region credit Foster’s appointment in 2008 to the board of directors of the Georgia Department of Economic Development as being instrumental in the state of Georgia agreeing to split up the megasite for mid-sized buyers, rather than holding out for one purchaser. 

Foster is also credited with helping to facilitate the expansion of Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation. 

Also going off the SEDA board will be John McCleskey, who has served on the board for more than 10 years.
New board members for 2010 include Greg Parker and Paul Hinchey.  Gregory “Greg” Parker is the president of The Parker Companies, which owns and operates 28 retail stores in southeast Georgia, including Parker’s Convenience Stores, Parker’s Market, Urban Attic and Spin City; a wholesale distributorship; and Parker’s Square in Richmond Hill. Parker served as chairman of the Savannah Master Plan Task Force and was on the executive board of the Savannah Development and Renewal Authority for several years. He is also a member of the Mayor’s Crime Task Force and is a past board member of the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce.  He is a 2005 recipient of the Savannah Urban Entrepreneur Award.

Hinchey is president and CEO of St. Joseph’s/Candler Health System and is active in community initiatives and boards, including Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce, American Diabetes Association, Rotary Club of Savannah, Mercy Housing Southeast, and the Diocese of Savannah’s Catholic Foundation of South Georgia Board.  He is also an associate board member of The Savannah Area Geographic Information System and has served on the SEDA Advisory Council. 

David Paddison, president of Seacrest Partners, officially begins his term as vice-chairman; and Robert James, president of Carver State Bank, moves up to secretary/treasurer of the SEDA executive board.

Hester has been a member of the SEDA board of directors since 1996, serving most recently as vice-chairman and secretary/treasurer.  He has also been a member of the SEDA Executive Committee and chair of the SEDA Finance and Property committees. 

Hester currently serves on the board of directors of the Historic Savannah Foundation and the Marketing Committee of the Circle of Champions (Legends of Golf).   Formerly, he has served on the board of directors of the Savannah Technical College Foundation, the Georgia Southern University Foundation the Armstrong Atlantic University Foundation as well as having chaired the board of Provident Health Services, Inc. at Memorial Hospital.  He has also served on the boards of the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce, the Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Small Business Assistance Corporation and is a past chair of CHSA (Community Housing Services Association).

Sidebar: Scott Center's Nomination to SEDA Board Questioned by Past Chairman