Jim Melvin: Former mayor is still a mover and shaker

As president of the Joseph Bryan Foundation and a former mayor of Greensboro, his impact on the city is powerful.

“He has the reputation across the state as Mr. Greensboro,” said James Solomon, who nominated Melvin for the 7 Over 70 award.

Melvin credits his parents for his drive to make Greensboro a better place.

“I was always taught by my parents to give back. I kept giving back, and one thing led to another,” Melvin said.

It all began when he was working at his father’s service station and was asked to join the Greensboro Jaycees.

“It taught me a lot about community service and what life was all about,” Melvin said.

Melvin’s name became synonymous with the Greensboro Jaycees, where he served as the organization’s president. He became the chairman for the organization’s most notable event, the Greater Greensboro Open and raised $1 million to get the golf tournament aired on national television.

“Back then, the Jaycee organization was a tremendous force,” Melvin said.

Melvin entered politics and was Greensboro’s longest-serving mayor, in the role for a decade.

During his time as mayor, he supported development of the Greensboro Coliseum, the creation of an improved sewage treatment plant, building downtown municipal office buildings, the creation of Bryan Park and laying the groundwork for the Randleman Reservoir.

“I looked at the job as an economic development job,” Melvin said.

Melvin’s drive did not go unnoticed by his longtime friend and philanthropist Joseph Bryan. Bryan tapped Melvin to help found and lead the Joseph Bryan Foundation.

“It gave me the opportunity at a retirement age to take on a new role to run a foundation with some very talented people,” Melvin said.

Under Melvin’s guidance, the foundation helped to bring the Elon Law School to downtown Greensboro, raising $30 million to do so. The foundation also made improvements to the Greensboro Coliseum, helped create Center City Park and a build a new baseball stadium.

“I’ve been involved with some people that allowed us to do some good things,” Melvin said. “Everything we did, like the baseball park and city park, was extremely important.”

Melvin also helped create Action Greensboro.

“Through Action Greensboro, we teamed up with other foundations to keep Greensboro vibrant,” Melvin said.

These days, Melvin is busy leading the development of the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite, an 1,800-acre site in Randolph County being created to attract a major manufacturer. Melvin said the loss of Burlington Industries and Cone Mills were a blow to the area and he is hopeful the megasite will bring back jobs.

“I’ve been working on that project for over eight years. We’re doing all that to give it away, which makes it very unique,” Melvin said.

Melvin said he does not envision Greensboro as being another Charlotte, but a “better Greensboro, a better region.”

“Nothing happens by looking backwards, so I’ve always tried looking forward.”