On October 24-27 Greenville, NC hosted the NC League of Municipalities Conference at the Greenville Convention Center on Greenville Blvd. Greenville was more than happy to host the event, the league covers 542 cities, towns and villages. The conference was a success with over 1,000 visitors coming into town and all leaving happy with the job Greenville did. This was the first time the conference had been located East of I-95. Convention and visitors bureau director Debbie Vargas estimated that the visitors spent around $625,000 while in Greenville, while only costing Greenville $50,000 to host the event. An additional $84,000 was covered by sponsors from local businesses and nearby towns such as Winterville, Ayden and Farmville. Greenville also hosted pre-conference events from local youth leaders and also had a golf tournament at Bradford Creek Course.

During the conference, new President and Vice President officials were elected. Mr. Rodney W. Locks from Brevard, NC was elected as the new President. Locks was previously The First Vice President. Two First Vice Presidents were elected and they were Christopher Jones from Clemmons, NC and Mayor Loretta Clawson from Boone, NC. Locks replaced immediate past President Mayor Gerald A. Jones Jr. from Morehead City, NC.

The key note speaker for the conference was Dr. James H. Johnson Jr., the William Rand Kenan Professor of Management at UNC-Chapel Hill. The closing speaker for the conference was Dr. Douglas Brinkley, known for his work as a historian and author of 30 books, including “Hurricane Katrina” and “New Orleans and The Mississippi Gulf Coast”. The conference had educational opportunities dealing with small town financing, closing overt drug markets, transportation and many more. Greenville hopes to host the event again, the conference changes location each year around seven cities and Greenville hopes to become one of those seven.