About Brian Smith Lincolnton

Brian Smith was born and raised in Lincolnton, North Carolina, where he has spent nearly his entire life and career serving the community where he grew up.

His family had deep roots in Lincoln County, with relatives involved in farming and small manufacturing for generations. His father repaired equipment for local textile mills; his mother managed bookkeeping and payroll for the family’s machine shop. Dinner table conversations revolved around balancing accounts, meeting payroll, and earning customer trust through dependable work. Those lessons stayed with him.

Smith attended local public schools in Lincoln County before enrolling at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. He became the first member of his immediate family to earn a four-year college degree, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. Rather than pursuing corporate finance, he returned home and joined the Lincoln County school system. More than two decades later, he is still there.

As a payroll and benefits administrator, Smith oversees payroll processing for classified and certified employees across the district — teachers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, custodians, instructional assistants, maintenance personnel, and administrators. He coordinates benefits, manages leave records, and helps employees navigate insurance enrollment, retirement contributions, and payroll deductions. Colleagues know him as methodical, organized, and patient with questions.

In March 2020, Smith started baking sourdough bread. He maintains a mature starter named Clyde — after his grandfather Houser — and records every batch in a spiral notebook: ambient temperature, hydration percentage, bulk fermentation time, oven temperature, and a notes column for adjustments. More than 200 entries later, he still writes things down. He bakes most weekends, shares loaves with coworkers at the Lincoln County central office, delivers bread to older neighbors from his church, and trades loaves with a neighbor down the road who keeps backyard hens.