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Lloyd Wm. Payne, Jr. is Concord's eighth City Manager, after serving as Assistant City Manager since May of 2015. Prior to arriving in Concord, Payne served ten years as the Town Manager of Elkin in Surry County, and four years as Town Manager of Lake Waccamaw in Columbus County.
In addition to his local government experience, Payne has served in the North Carolina Army National Guard for over 24 years. A decorated veteran in the field of transportation and logistics, he currently serves as the Command Sergeant Major (CSM) of the 113th Sustainment Brigade, and has previously been assigned to the 630th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion in Lenoir and the 1454th Transportation Company based in Concord. As Command Sergeant Major, Payne fills an important role in assisting the commanding officer in providing leadership, training, discipline, and two-way communications within the brigade and all its battalions, specifically with its enlisted members. Payne has three years of active duty service, including combat deployments to Bosnia in the mid-1990s and Iraq/Kuwait twice between 2003 and 2010.
Payne has been recognized by the International City-County Management Association as a Credentialed Manager, and holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Public Administration degrees from Appalachian State University. He has completed the Rural Economic Development Institute through the NC Rural Center, the UNC School of Government's Municipal Administration Course and Public Executive Leadership Academy, the ICMA Gettysburg Leadership Institute, and Leadership Cabarrus.
Payne's appointment was effective April 1, 2018. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Beth, and their children Ella and Liam, as well as playing golf.
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Manager's Notes
by Lloyd Payne, City Manager
Hello Concord. Thank you for the warm reception in my short time in my new role as your City Manager. I am humbled and honored to be in this position. Mayor Dusch and City Council have entrusted me with the responsibility of working alongside of our City staff each day in serving you, which means a great deal to me.
I look forward to the Concord community getting to know me in the coming years through this column. In the future we'll talk more about what I'm focusing on in terms of our organization and services, but for now some basics about me might be helpful. My educational background comes from Appalachian State University, where I earned Bachelor of Science in Political Science and Master of Public Administration (Town/City/County Management concentration) degrees.
I have been in the North Carolina Army National Guard for over 24 years and currently serve as the 113th Sustainment Brigade Command Sergeant Major based out of Greensboro. I am fortunate to have served our country in three overseas deployments. I served in Bosnia in 1997-1998, Kuwait/Iraq in 2004-2005, and again in Iraq in 2009-2010. I have also served the State of North Carolina on multiple natural disaster recovery operations.
I have been married to my wife, Beth, for almost 16 years and have a daughter, Ella (11), and son, Liam (5). I am truly blessed and fortunate to have a loving family and greatly value our time together. Prior to coming to Concord as the Assistant City Manager in 2015, I served as the Town Manager in Elkin for ten years and started my career with four years as Town Manager in Lake Waccamaw.
Having served here as the Assistant City Manager for the past three years, I have witnessed firsthand the incredibly talented staff who work hard each day to ensure the citizens receive the best possible customer service. Delivering excellent customer service has and will continue to be our daily focus no matter what our individual job titles are.
I look forward to working with Mayor Dusch, City Council, and staff on the many projects and opportunities that lie ahead. Staff will be working to ensure our development ordinances are in line with the Plan recently adopted 2030 Land Use Plan so we can be prepared for the continued growth of Concord – now and in the future. We are also conducting an Open Space Connectivity Study, which will help us determine how we can further expand recreational opportunities across the City and interconnect our expanding greenway systems. As you are aware, there are numerous road projects underway and more in the planning stages. Growth produces many challenges, including traffic and congestion. The City is working in conjunction with the North Carolina Department of Transportation to undertake projects to relieve traffic issues throughout Concord. While this type of planning can be quite detailed and take a great deal of time from conception to completion, we are confident that these road projects will greatly benefit us all once they are finished.
Again, I am very grateful to be your new City Manager. I along with staff are committed to continuous improvement. Please let us know if you know of ways we can collectively better our City. I look forward to working alongside of you in the coming months and years ahead.