Michael B. Phillips is the Appling County Manager. He and his wife Mary, live in Southern Living Apartments on GA 15 South, in Baxley. Mike was previously the City Administrator in Chester, SC. and the Town Administrator in St. Pauls, NC.
Mike was born in a textile mill village Greenville, SC, where he learned the values of hard work and a handshake. Mike spent most of his life in Greenville, having worked as a Sheriff's Deputy, Administrator in the 13th Judicial Circuit Family Court system, and as Greenville County's Emergency Preparedness Director. After that, he had several positions in the private sector and in non-profits as Medical Clinic Administrator, Assistant Hospital Administrator, and Director and Executive Director of such programs as Lutheran Family Services of the Carolinas and Richmond County Partnership for Children (N.C. Smart Start). He worked part-time for the Greenville Literacy Association, the SC Department of Juvenile Justice, the Anderson Youth Association and the Boys Home of the South. While in Emergency Management in Greenville, he and several volunteers helped the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency develop a computer program called Cameo, using Census maps, for emergency planning during chemical spills and other disasters; and he was Department Head of the program when the Enhanced 9-1-1 system went on -line in Greenville.
Mike has an Associate Degree in Law Enforcement Technology from Greenville Technical College, a Bachelors degree from Furman University in Business Administration with a minor in Economics, and a Master Degree in Public Administration from a joint Clemson University/University of South Carolina program.
Mike has been married to his wife Mary, for 36 years. They have three grown children: a son, Michael, working in Greenville; a daughter, Monica, who is a Staff Sergeant in the Marine Corps in Camp LeJeune, NC, with her Marine Staff Sergeant husband; and a son, Matt, who is a Marine Corporal. Mike has two grandsons by daughter Monica, Christopher Andrew Feil (pronounced File), 10 years old, and Robert Masten Feil, 3 years old, named after a current Marine General; and one grandson by eldest son Michael, Ethan Michael Phillips, 1 year old.
Mike's hobby is collecting novelty telephones (Garfield, Superman, Mickey Mouse, etc.), of which he and Mary currently have about 700. He also enjoys researching on the internet and working with digital photos and promotional brochures. Mary is an active Red Hat Society member.
