Andy Carr tapped as new president and CEO of SCMEP.

• Date: 15 March 2022

Andy Carr knows he has big shoes to fill, but after years walking alongside a legend in South Carolina manufacturing, he feels comfortable wearing them.

Carr led the S.C. Manufacturing Extension Partnership through the sudden death of its heart-and-soul CEO and president last fall and guided the organization as interim president while an executive search committee looked for someone to replace Chuck Spangler.

Carr was offered the job in February and took the title officially on March 7.

"Fortunately, I had 24 years of working with Chuck boss, mentor and friend, so maybe it's not quite so intimidating because of 24 years of working with the man," Carr said.

He said the staff applied Spangler's yeoman-like approach to getting the job done in the days and weeks after his death, working to help the state's manufacturing community even as they mourned the passing of someone frequently...