Brian Paul Freese has served the public as an public administrator and professional economic developer for nearly a decade in several Georgia communities, and now he anticipates continuing his education as a PhD student at the University of Georgia

Brian Paul Freese, MPPA, EDFP

Brian Paul Freese joined the Department of Public Administration & Policy staff with the School of Public and International Affairs at The University of Georgia in the Summer of 2005 after a ten-year career in local economic development. He serves as the Graduate Applicant Services Coordinator and Assistant to the Director of Graduate Programs. He is also pursuing his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Higher Education with a research emphasis on the role of higher education in regional and state economic development.

Before joining UGA, he served as Director of Economic Development for the City of Marietta, Georgia from December 2001 until December 2004. That position followed six years in public service as Economic Development Administrator for the Unified Government of Athens-Clarke County, Georgia.

Freese has a Master of Public Policy and Administration from Mississippi State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Studies from the College of Charleston, South Carolina. He has also completed post-graduate coursework at the University of Mississippi at Oxford.

As Economic Development Director, Freese ensured the overall administration of the Office of Economic Development for both Marietta and Athens. His primary responsibility was facilitating public sector investment and coordinating multi-departmental efforts of the local governments in community-wide redevelopment. He was also responsible for commercial and industrial recruitment, existing business and industry retention and expansion, and downtown development programs of service. He supervised a professional economic development team that included an Industrial Development Manager and Downtown Development Coordinator in Marietta, and a Community Economic Development Coordinator in Athens.

As lead economic developer of these local governments, he directed or administered a variety of programs to maximize sustainable economic development. He also served as the primary contact person for prospective business and industry to obtain information regarding relocation, expansion, or other public service needs.

Freese also served as the interim Executive Director of the Marietta Redevelopment Corporation from inception in Winter 2002 until Fall 2003. As interim Executive Director, he managed the day-to-day operations of the public-private partnership and successfully initiated the local government's first Tax Allocation District for the redevelopment of two former public housing sites near the city-center.

Freese graduated in 2005 from the University of Oklahoma’s Economic Development Institute, the premier economic development training program in the nation. He also graduated from the 32nd Annual Economic Development Course at the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1999. He is a certified by the National Development Council as an Economic Development Finance Professional. The International Economic Development Council endorses this certification.

Freese is also an active member of the International Economic Development Council, the Southern Economic Development Council, the Georgia Economic Developers Association, and the American Planning Association. As a member of the Georgia Economic Developers Association he has served on a number of policy committees including Transportation and Existing Industry.

Freese owns a home in Athens, Georgia and is a member of the Campus View Church of Christ.