The city of Burlington has announced the selection of Adam Shull to serve as the city’s new director of economic development.
A native of Hickory, Shull comes to the city of Burlington with 11 years of public sector experience – most recently as the assistant director of regional development for the Piedmont Triad Council of Governments. According to the city of Burlington, Shull had used this position to help the COGs members implement land regulations and “strategically plan for economic growth.”
Prior to his stint with the COG, Shull had worked with N.C. Pandemic Recovery Office, which oversaw the disbursement of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants to localities across North Carolina.
A graduate of Appalachian State University, Shull began his career as a newspaper reporter in Kentucky before he returned to North Carolina to receive a master’s in public administration from UNC Greensboro. Along the way, he and his wife Joy started a family, which currently includes two sons – 11-year-old James and 7-year-old Emmett.
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As Burlington’s new director of economic development, Shull will succeed Peter Bishop who had served as the city’s designated economic developer until he obtained a similar post with the city of High Point nearly a year ago. Bishop had been the first person to hold this position since Burlington’s city council resolved to hire its own economic developer nearly a decade ago in order to complement the corporate recruitment services that it continues to receive from the Alamance County Area Chamber Commerce.
According to the city of Burlington, Shull will formally assume his new post on January 6. His position will be ultimately charged with “the support and retention” of Burlington’s existing businesses while “attracting new investment in the community.”
In addition, Shull will lead the city’s economic development department, which also includes a business retention and expansion manager, a downtown manager, and a graduate fellow from Elon University.
