Summers, a senior planner for the Town of Wake Forest, got his chance last week when he was hired as Kenly's new town manager.

"I think it's one of the highest levels of civil service," he said. "You are charged with all aspects of managing the municipal government. To me, it's really appealing."

Summers will start March 1 at a salary of $64,200. He succeeds Scott Shelton, who resigned last August, months before the town received a scathing audit of its finances. Retired Smithfield manager Pete Connet has been Kenly's interim manager and will continue until March.

Mayor David Grady said Summers would help improve Kenly. "He's going to be a strong manager to handle the opportunities and the threats that we have," Grady said. "He was the No. 1 choice on everybody's list. We just think he's got the right amount of seasoning."

Summers beat out almost 30 other applicants for the job, several of whom had experience as a town manager. "I think his people skills outweighed those of the others," Grady said.

Summers' salary is significantly higher than Shelton's earnings of $53,546. But Grady said the increase was needed to attract a manager like Summers.

Wake Forest has about 15 times the population of Kenly, and Grady expects that Summers' role in planning his department's budget is similar to what he'll face here. "Just his budget probably encompasses what Kenly's general fund budget is," Grady said.

Summers has been with the Town of Wake Forest since 2003, working most recently in development services. He's also worked for Wake County Human Services and as a transportation planner for the City of Raleigh. Summers said his experience managing the rapid growth of Wake Forest would come in handy as Kenly grows.

"You need to have a lot of foresight when the growth does come," he said.

Summers said he wants to work in Kenly because its location along Interstate 95 puts it in a good position to attract growth. He was also impressed by the high participation in parks and recreation activities and the number of "large, vibrant churches."

"There's a strong sense of community here," he said.

Summers said he'd been looking closely at the town and already had some ideas he wanted to share with the Town Council.