Wayne Gray Email & Phone Number

Myrtle Beach, Sc, Us

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Area

Positioned the as a trusted financial advisor to individuals, entrepreneurs, small business owners,investors and corporate clients.* Elevated Synovus’ reputation in the community as a value-added, trusted financial advisor during local market branch relocation and post-acquisition corporate rebranding.* Leveraged strong business and community connections to individuals, entrepreneurs, small business owners, investors and corporate clients to successfully compete for and win new business against larger established banks.* Built a $150M business portfolio and strong relationships with area hotels, restaurants, tourismcompanies, retailers, real estate development firms and business services providers.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, United States

Served as a member advisor and ultimately Managing Partner in a private, family-led business involved in the investment, management and leasing of commercial and residential real estate.Directed business, financial, transactional and operating strategies, budgeting/financial affairs,leasing/property management, reporting/compliance and investor/stakeholder communications.* Led short- and long-range planning and investment decision-making to yield the highest value forupwards of $15M in assets under management. * Structured and negotiated real estate leases, operating management agreements and sports tourism promotions for River Oaks Golf Course.* Leveraged in depth insights into changing business, economic and market landscape, andsubstantiated the value of repurposing sports tourism commercial land into residential real estate, and led sale process in 2024.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, United States

Served as a Board/Committee leader for alliances and partnerships promoting development of smallbusinesses, community leaders, infrastructure development and other key initiatives across the Grand Strand.* Assisted in the formation of inaugural Boards of North Eastern Strategic Alliance committed tocompany/industry recruitment/incentives, small business advancement and job creation/workforcedevelopment.* Selected as a Sub-Committee Member for Partnership Grand Strand, a newly created foundation with a 5-year initiative to advancing prosperity, talent, place and infrastructure across Horry and Georgetown counties.* Improved visibility and representation in local, county and state legislative affairs as a member of the Chamber Advocacy Council and Grand Strand Business Alliance Founding Board Member.* Advanced public policy and legislation aligned with stakeholder objectives related to affordable energy and insurance; infrastructure and transportation; workforce and education and public safety.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Area

Championed the business community and economic growth in leadership positions spanning 3 decades. Represented the interests of 2.4K+ businesses and community organizations, advanced the reputation and impact of a 50-employee organization, and enhanced the financial stability and expansion of $75M+ in operating, marketing and program budgets.* Defined a clear vision as Chairman and supported subsequent Board/executive leadermission/objectives centered around performance excellence, financial prudence and strategicrelationship building.* Partnered with government, business and community leaders across Grand Strand and Horry County to present new ideas, influence positive change and create new sources of revenue benefitting allconstituents.* Garnered recognition as 2008 “Citizen of the Year” for exemplifying best practices in economicdevelopment and community enrichment.* Led an aggressive, focused brand transformation to position the Grand Strand as “a premier touristdestination”. Grew tourism 25% over a decade and direct visitor spending 3-fold from ~$4B to $12.5B with ~$7B total economic impact.* United business, community and political leaders behind the Destination Specific Marketing Grant and Tourism Development Fee, which increased tourism-driven taxes in the city and across the county by 150%.* Spearheaded public-private funding strategies that increased marketing/promotion budgets from $4M to $75M, and enabled the chamber to effectively compete against other East Coast vacationdestinations to boost tourism.* Advanced a multi-year growth initiative that positioned the Grand Strand as a family-friendlycommunity, culminating in recognition as the fastest growing metro area in the US for the last 4 years.* Formalized economic development strategic planning, priorities and programs, and created abusiness-friendly environment for the real estate, retail, hospitality, golf, healthcare and servicessectors.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Area

Served as member of a 7-person non-partisan, at-large council for an organization with 900+ employees and $200M annual budget. Advanced a holistic vision and direction during 16-year tenure for economic development, tourism, infrastructure improvements, public safety and quality of life initiatives.* Championed council evolution to embrace forward-looking strategic planning, progressive leadership, inter-organizational collaboration and transparency, and definable, achievable goals and objectives.* Shared business and financial acumen to address issues, optimize resources and drive continuousimprovements, resulting in minimal annual budget increases while the city population grew 30%+ over 10+ years.* Influenced passage of the Tourism Development Fee, state legislation amendment and reallocation of economic development grants for hospitality and tourism, and the largest residential property tax cut in state history.* Represented the City on key legislative initiatives before Horry County Legislative Delegation, South Carolina General Assembly and the Governors’ office, and advised leadership on significant policy related issues and opportunities.* Collaborated with city officials, economic development agencies and community groups on ~$1B of public/private investments in residential and commercial real estate development.– The city’s largest land annexations, including award-winning national site reuse and redevelopment to create Market Common, and development of Grand Dunes and Coastal Grand Mall– Multi-county partnership and creation of International Transportation Aeronautical Park– Construction of Myrtle Beach Boardwalk and Myrtle Beach Convention Center Hotel– Renovation/construction of 3 sports stadiums/complexes that ignited 600% sports tourism growth* Brought new ideas forward, justified capital plans, and led the city to become the first in the state to adopt progressive ocean outfall/stormwater management and underground power programs.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, United States

Recruited by the founders of Tidelands Bank (predecessor organization) to spearhead Grand Strandmarket entry. Built the bank from the ground up to 2 locations and grew from start-up to $120M+ inassets within 2 years.* Leveraged financial acumen, fiscal responsibility and robust business relationships to steer Tidelands through multi-year financial crisis and economic recession when many small community banks failed.* Served as a senior member of Tidelands corporate operations and regional leadership team duringstrategic planning, due diligence and corporate/investor presentations culminating in a successfulacquisition.* Hired/led a 12-member team, fostered a customer-friendly service philosophy and engaged inproactive employee engagement, communications and training/development to enhance efficiency and performance.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, United States

Built a thriving multi-unit restaurant business. Acquired, remodeled and rebranded existing restaurants, and grew from 1 to 4 locations in just 2 years.* Applied prudent planning, forecasting and P&L skills over $4M in revenue and $3.5M in operatingexpenses, and drove strong sales and profit performance in highly a competitive, constantly evolvingseasonal market.* Established a reputation for unique customer experience, high quality and prompt service, culminating in local recognition as “Best Family Restaurant”.* Built a solid bench of 10 front-line managers/supervisors and 100 productive/motivated employeesfocused on quality, service and customer satisfaction. Sustained strong retention in a high attritionindustry.* Introduced rigor to improve financial performance and operational effectiveness.Structured/negotiated competitive contracts for food/beverage, equipment, technology and facilitiesmanagement services.

Bachelor Of Science - Bs, Business Administration And Management, General

Activities and Societies: Won a full athletic scholarship as All-State athlete for the Myrtle Beach High School Seahawks

Graduate, Local Community Leadership

10-month program providing broad-based leadership perspectives related to the area’s unique history, needs, opportunities and resources.

Graduate, Municipal Elected Officials Institute Of Government

2-year training program with focus on budgeting, finance, organizational structures, governance, policy and economic development

Graduate, State / Regional Leadership

9-month program advancing education and networking opportunities for the next generation leaders and providing a greater understanding.