New board members and leadership have been named to Cape Fear Economic Development Council's Board of Directors, according to a news release.

The board has named Chris Stevenson as chair and Claire Appling as vice chair, stated the release.

Stevenson is a N.C. Economic Development Committee member. Appling is a product owner at Castle Branch and has served on the CFEDC board for two years. 

Other executive board members are Jennifer Price, IT applications manager for Pender County Information Technology, as secretary; and Roger Gins, executive director at Backyard Housing Group, as treasurer.

Stevenson, Price and Gins are new to the board. Other new general board members are Girard Newkirk, CEO at KWHCoin; Amy McLane, a retired civil engineer; Wayne Hippo, managing partner of PS Solutions and freshman, an enterprise security architect at RedHat.

“There’s much work to be done,” Stevenson said in the release. “We are further extending our membership and bringing new voices to the fore so that our region can develop in a manner that reflects those who live here. We’re looking forward to a bright, new economic development conversation.”

The Cape Fear Economic Development Council (CFEDC) is a nonprofit organization charged with giving voice to innovative and sustainable economic development for the Cape Fear region, stated the release.

The returning CFEDC board members are Ann Revell-Pechar, Al Sharp, Bonnie Nelson, Clark Henry, Scott Ogden, John Wojciechowski, Lloyd Smith and Clayton Hamerski.