Business owner, Navy veteran and current Planning Board member Marc Bianco is challenging Selectman Alan Slavin for a seat on the board, saying it’s time for a change.

“I think a lot of Alan’s arguments are good on experience, but that experience has to be combined with good leadership,” said Bianco, a resident for the past 25 years. “For me, it’s about leadership combined with experience. That is the formula we need right now.”

Bianco has been in the U.S. Naval Reserve since 1988 and was active duty from 2007-08. With his wife, he co-owns United Alliance Services, a consulting firm that trains employees on workplace safety. Earlier in his career, he served as vice president of a division of Aon Construction Risk Services, overseeing a $4.5 million budget and managing a staff of 40. That background, and his involvement in a variety of civic groups through the years, will serve him well if elected, he said.

Bianco stressed that residents must weigh in on a few major projects soon.

“The decisions we make in the next six months will have a great impact on the next 10 years,” said Bianco.

Some of those issues include approving funds to build a new, combined elementary school and fighting a massive affordable housing project in East Wareham. Also in East Wareham, Bianco said he’s concerned about how a state road project will impact business owners on a 2-mile stretch of Cranberry Highway.

“That construction will impact the circulation of tourists into Onset for several years,” said Bianco about the highway project. “I’m not sure the current Selectmen have heard the concerns being voiced by the business community.”

For Bianco, the town’s focus now should be on attracting quality businesses to boost the town’s revenues, which in turn would keep property taxes low and provide funds for services.

“The businesses that get brought into town have to be sustainable businesses,” said Bianco. “We want jobs that produce good salaries with good benefits that aren’t greatly impacted by a downturn in the economy.”