I recently spoke to Jack Rhyne to learn his story and it is a fascinating one! Like most little boys growing up in a Roy Rogers world, Rhyne hoped to grow up to be a cowboy. That didn’t quite work out, but he has lived an adventurous life. Rhyne grew up in Anderson County, enlisted in the Army as a young man, and married Marie Merritt from Grainger County, who served as Rutledge’s City Recorder. Rhyne became Mayor of Rutledge in 1973, where he served until the young couple moved to Florida where they stayed for ten years, then Rhyne and Von Merritt, his brother-in-law, decided to go into business together. They purchased Wall Tube, a company that manufactured outdoor furniture, from Raymond Buckner. They rented a building from then-County Mayor Don Richardson, creating C & G Enterprises in 1983. This business is still thriving today, although now under new management and known as M & G, being the first building on the right in Industrial Park #1, on Richardson Way in Maynardville, TN. Rhyne gratefully acknowledged Von Richardson and Raymond Buckner as being instrumental in moving that business from Newport to Maynardville.

Fast forward to Rhyne’s most recent position as Maynardville’s City Manager, which is similar in scope to the responsibilities of being the Mayor of Rutledge. After Rhyne’s first retirement, although still dabbling in real estate, members of the community approached him, urging him to apply for the open position in Maynardville. Initially, he declined, but in 2009 accepted the position. He retired more decidedly effective 10-31-20.

The essence of the job of the City Manager is to run the city, including the police, highway, streets, lights, water, etc. The way the city of Maynardville is organized, the city manager manages all personnel matters, hiring and firing city employees at the direction of the city council. The only positions he does not supervise are the judge and attorney. When asked what it takes to be successful in this appointed position, Rhyne states that in addition to meeting the educational requirements, one must be able to direct workers and employees, understand their limitations, and clearly communicate their responsibilities. For a better understanding of the responsibilities of a city manager, attached you will find the position announcement used by the city of Maynardville. A story on Mike Chesney, Maynardville’s new city manager effective 11-1-2020 will soon follow!

Rhyne’s advice to those considering opening a business in Union County is to do your research and be sure that the population can support your business venture. This especially applies to retail specialty stores as they typically require about 40,000 people to be adequately supported, Union County currently sits at just over half that number. However, if you are looking to open a manufacturing facility, Rhyne is confident there are plenty of good workers here in Union County, who are both loyal and capable. M & G still has employees that were hired right out of high school and have remained with the company as it grew and evolved over the years.

Both Jack and Marie Rhyne spent a lot of time and energy heavily involved in community outreach and volunteering over the years. What’s next for Rhyne? He still serves as the Chairman of the Republican Party and has some ideas for inventions that he’s tinkering with, but is primarily focused on staying home and being a husband to his beloved Marie as they enjoy their golden years. He attributes his success to learning to depend on God and allowing Him to direct his life. Rhyne states that God has been with him these many years so he just tries to follow God’s lead and be what God wants him to be. Family life is very important to Rhyne, so his advice to young people is to never move more than 50 miles away from home, you miss so much being away from family.