Max Morrison is a businessman. He’s also a volunteer who takes care of business.
The Flex-A-Bed president is serving as interim LaFayette city manager free of charge to help the city he loves, splitting his time 50-50 between the two.
“I have been blessed to live here, work here and meet my wife here,” said Morrison, referring to LaFayette, where he also attends Second Baptist Church. “To be able to help the Council on an interim basis, I feel like it’s my way of paying back the city for the blessings I’ve received from living in this city. I took over as interim city manager one month ago.”
Typically, Morrison works at LaFayette City Hall the first half of each workday and at Flex-A-Bed the last half. However, his schedule changes if there is a Council meeting day.
The next LaFayette City Council meeting is June 10 at 7:30 p.m. inside LaFayette City Hall.
“The city of LaFayette has such a great staff,” said Morrison. “They are just super people and they get a lot accomplished.”
Flex-A-Bed Vice President Ben Groce is manning more of the business’s day-to-day operations, so that frees Morrison to help the city with management, he said.
Even though Morrison is happy to help, he will not throw his hat into the ring for the full-time city manager position, he said. Turning 60 years old on the Fourth of July, he said he is looking to retire instead of starting a new career, yet plans to continue helping the city until a full-time city manager is hired.
In the meantime, he is working with the LaFayette City Council to look at ways to help with revenues and expenses in order to create a balanced budget for the city. He has until Sept. 21 to finalize the city budget for the Council to approve.
“We have a great Council in place now,” said Morrison. “All five members are knowledgeable and professional.”
Morrison has plenty of finance budgeting experience. In the past he has helped the city with its budget as a councilman for 17 years. He has also assisted Second Baptist Church with its budget and previously served on the Hutcheson Health Enterprise Board working on the hospital’s budget.
He has worked for Flex-A-Bed for 33 years and began serving as the company president 10 years ago.