Bobby Fillyaw will leave as Orange County’s Economic Development Director in December. And Monday he announced his intention to run for Newton County Judge.
My name is Bobby Fillyaw and I am announcing my candidacy for County Judge of Newton County. I grew up in Newton County and graduated from Newton High School. I attended and received a degree from Stephen F. Austin State University and later graduated from the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma.
My wife, Lana, and I are also owners of a small business. We have Lanmark Staffing which provides temporary and permanent placement employees to various companies all over Southeast Texas.
After college, I began working for State Senator Bill Haley as district aide where we dealt with constituent issues and I was instrumental in putting together a regional coalition that helped to bring the prison facilities to Woodville, Jasper and Newton. During this time working for the State, we dealt with changes to solid waste disposal laws and saw the impacts of unfunded mandates on small counties and cities.
I worked for a brief time for the Newton County Correctional Center and then went to work for John Sharp in the Local Government Assistance Division of the Texas State Comptroller’s office. We provided training and assistance to all local governments in transparency and accountability as well as assisting to find grant funding for special projects. It was here that I began my training in economic development. Our office provided local governments, chambers of commerce and economic development organizations with the resources to aid in their economic development activities.
For the last 17 years of my career, I have directly worked in economic development in McGregor, Texas and in Orange County. In McGregor I managed a 9,500 acre industrial park and brought companies such as Dell Computers, Space X and Ferguson Distribution to the park. In my time in Orange, I have worked on incentive packages for Southeast Texas Industries, International Paper, Lanxess, DuPont, Jefferson Energy Partners and many others. During my tenure in Orange County, we dealt with three hurricanes. This taught me the importance of disaster preparedness for a community. I established the Small Business Recovery Center after Hurricane Ike and we helped hundreds of companies to find assistance to get back on their feet as quickly as possible.
Officials in Newton County have done a great job in maintaining the financial soundness of the County. However, an area where we are lacking is making investments in areas to encourage economic development throughout the County. Each area of Newton County has positive attributes that lends itself to different types of development. These need to be marketed and government needs to be supportive and encourage private developers to choose Newton County over others surrounding us. Whether it is residential, industrial, or tourism related development, it can be positive growth for Newton County.
I remember “growing up” inside the Newton County Courthouse. During those days there was a great spirit of cooperation and a group of dedicated, Christian leaders with the same agenda looking to bring positive growth to Newton County. I believe we can reach that spirit again in Newton County. I look forward to getting to know more of you and answer the questions you may have for me as the elections grow near. I hope you all will join me in an effort to build a bigger and better Newton County!
Social Media