New development director gets acquainted with county

The Columbia County Development Authority's new executive director, Troy Post, started work Monday, completing a monthslong process to fill the position.

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Post said he'll spend much of his first week acclimating to his new job.

"As you can imagine, there are a lot of things to process on how to use the office equipment," Post joked Monday morning. "That's the biggest challenge so far -- the fax machine."

He toured the county Monday afternoon with his predecessor, Zack Daffin, and intends to meet this week with area officials and development authority board members.

"At some point in the next several weeks, we want to get together and go through a formal process (of outlining goals)," he said.

Daffin resigned from the development authority during the summer to pursue a banking career.

A 20-year veteran of business development, Post was the manager of the Bessemer, Ala., Development Board.

Primarily a blue-collar community, Bessemer benefited from Post's program to diversify the community by courting retail centers and building tourism.

More time is needed before Post can seek methods of diversifying the Columbia County business community, he said.

"I haven't had a chance to do an economic assessment," he said. "At some point, that will be part of what I'll focus on."