Johnson committed to economic growth in Colquitt County

Mar. 22—MOULTRIE — Amy Johnson has been named the new president of the Moultrie-Colquitt County Development Authority.

"I'm very excited about this opportunity. My entire career, I have been working in economic development and, now, it will be on a broader scope," Johnson said.

Johnson was the director of the City of Moultrie Downtown Economic Development and Public Relations department and the Main Street director. Through an intergovernmental agreement between the Moultrie-Colquitt County Development Authority and the City of Moultrie, she will continue to serve in an advisory/leadership capacity for the city's department and Main Street program and serve full-time as the development authority's president.

"My main focus will be on community economic development. The City will hire someone for the downtown duties and I will be in an advisory capacity because, in order to be a Main Street City, you do have to follow state guidelines," she said.

Johnson has 26 years of experience with the downtown development of Moultrie and in 2023 was awarded the Georgia Cities Foundation Starr Award. The previous year, under her leadership, downtown Moultrie was honored with the title of Downtown of the Year at the Georgia Downtown Conference.

"I left Moultrie for about seven years and what brought me back was Main Street. I had the opportunity to come back and do Main Street," she said. "That has been a wonderful experience because I care about the community."

She said that she believed that the reason that the downtown economic development had been successful was because both the city and county governments realized that it was the center of the community.

"I believe that economic development cannot and will not be successful without both local governments buying-in 100 percent. That means both the City and the County. We're all in this together," she said.

Johnson has contributed to the completion of several downtown projects including the Streetscape Project, the Pocket Park, Mule Barn Park, South Main Parking Lot, The Sportsman's Breezeway, the Covered Breezeway, and the Theatre Block Renovation.

"Now, I will focus on economic development community-wide. There are no boundaries. This position takes away the boundaries. I would not have taken this job if I didn't believe in and see the potential for growth and development in Moultrie and Colquitt County. I believe that, right now, we have a fantastic opportunity for this community to grow," she said.

Johnson said, quoting a statistic, "Seventy percent of job growth will come from your existing industries."

She said, that to her, that meant that she needed to get out and learn about those industries that are in Colquitt County.

"Who are they? What do they need from us? How can we help them? That's something that we can do on a continual basis, letting them know who we are. Letting them know who I am. So, that's something that we are starting to do," she said.

She also said that one of her top priorities was communication with the City and County governments and with the residents of Colquitt County.

"When you're a citizen in this community, you want to know the good things that are happening in this community. You want to know that businesses are choosing Colquitt County to open in. You want to know that businesses are expanding," Johnson said.

She said that she was pleasantly surprised when she started in the position, that the Moultrie-Colquitt County Development Authority already had a number of projects that they were working on.

"And, even when I first started, those first few days were meetings and Zoom calls about new, potential projects," she added.

She said some of the projects were business expansions and some of them were businesses looking to possibly move here. Each one is different but there is interest in the community.

"Now, does that mean that every one of them is gonna happen? No. That's the nature of the game. I learned that in downtown development. You might go through 50 potential business owners before one bites. And that's just how it is. But I promise you I will do my best to work for this community and continue to work for its betterment," Johnson said.

She said another important priority was to start figuring out "who we can attract and what we want to attract." She said there were organizations like the Georgia Department of Economic Development who were there to help and she had already sat down with them, along with Ross Dekle, the chairman of the Moultrie-Colquitt County Development Authority, and Courtney Hilliard, the assistant to the Moultrie-Colquitt County Development Authority.

"The more assistance and information that we can get from partners like that, the better off we'll be," she said.

Johnson also said that community development was about all of the municipalities in Colquitt County and that they were served by the development authority, too. Those smaller cities can use the authority as a resource and for economic development guidance.

"If you talk about Colquitt County, you can't leave any of the smaller municipalities out. We're all in this together. These communities want to see growth and development, too, for the betterment of the community for their families," she said.

Johnson said that she is excited to see what will happen in Doerun when Highway 133 is finished. She said that she knew that the City of Doerun had been working hard on its downtown development.

She said that she thought there was a lot that Colquitt County could learn from other counties and one of the things that she wants to do is to visit them and find out what they're doing.

"There's going to be a lot of education on my end that I need to do but I'm willing to do it. And I want to do it," Johnson said.

A press release from the Moultrie-Colquitt County Development Authority stated, "The Moultrie-Colquitt County Development Authority is confident that Amy Herndon Johnson's wealth of experience, dedication, and passion for community development will further propel Colquitt County's economic growth and prosperity."

"I'm just committed to the community. I think that's what makes me want to do this job. ... I know it is. That's what makes me want to work hard and make it happen," Johnson said. "We're going to do some great things."