BUCKFIELD – Glen Holmes of Morrill Street was selected Tuesday to serve as Buckfield’s new town manager.

The announcement came after an executive session in which the Buckfield Board of Selectmen chose between two final candidates.

“We had a hard time choosing between those two,” selectman Oscar Gammon said Wednesday. “So instead of one interview, we had two interviews with each of them.”

Gammon said the town manager search involved a total of 13 candidates and four executive sessions. In the end, Holmes beat out applicants from as far away as New York and North Dakota.

Holmes has never run a town, but he has until Oct. 1 to ready himself for his new position. He said Wednesday he hopes some of his experience in business will prove useful.

“You basically decide that it’s more important to help people than to make a profit,” Holmes said of his decision to change careers. “That’s been on my mind a lot.”

Along with the title of town manager, Holmes will also be assuming the roles of road commissioner, code enforcement officer, general assistance director, civil emergency preparedness director, health officer and tree warden, current Town Manager Cindy Dunn said Wednesday.

These are titles Dunn agreed to hand over as she announced her resignation earlier this year.

Dunn will stay on at town hall, however, working with Holmes as she continues to serve as town clerk, tax collector, treasurer, assessor’s assistant, registrar of voters, motor vehicle and recreational vehicle agent and bookkeeper.

“I’m looking forward to Glen coming on board,” Dunn said. The change, she added, will be good “not only for me but for the town as well.”

As the population has grown, Dunn said, she’s spent more time on administrative duties and less tending to issues such as growth management and planning.

This is one area where Homes intends to help out. He said he’ll be looking to bring more economic development to the town, as well as grants that may bring new opportunities and improvements.

First, however, Holmes said he will be out meeting with residents and community business leaders to find out which issues they think are important.

He has no agenda, or plans to fix any particular problems. Buckfield, Holmes said, “is a nice, quiet town where everyone seems to get along pretty well.”

Holmes will be leaving a position at Media Power Inc., a Portland company that produces infomercials, when he becomes town manager.