Who's Who in Carrollton>jessica reynolds of carrollton main st.
Describe your job responsibilities as Executive Director of Carrollton Main Street
As the Main Street Director I am responsible for the enhancement of the downtown both historically and aesthetically. My job ranges from awarding façade grants and helping businesses receive special low interest loans to changing out the bulbs on the Christmas tree that goes up every year.
Our program is a nonprofit program that is nationally accredited and managed on a state level. There are Main Street programs just like ours all over the country, some do more than us and some do less. In September our program was lucky enough to be the recipient of two awards. The first was for “Best Retail Booster” this award was for our Break Away From The Chains campaign which took place last Christmas and was designed to encourage people in the community to shop local. Our second award was for “Most Creative Marketing Piece” this was awarded to us for our Dr. Adamson’s Educational Placemats. These placemats were created for the downtown restaurants as an educational tool to teach parents and kids fun facts about the square. They are guided through a series of puzzles, word searches and jumbles with the help of our new mascot (a pig) Professor Wilber C. Adamson.
I feel very honored to have this job and think of all the people I work with as one big family. We are here to support each other through the good times and the bad times and what I love the most is that everyone is so willing to pitch in and help one another. Where else you could you find that kind of working environment.
What is the best part of your job?
The best part of my job is hands down promoting my program and the people that I have gotten to meet through doing that. I absolutely love going on the radio to talk with Colin, Mitch, Kim and Red from all the local radio stations (all part of the graddick communications).
I am a member of Rotary and Kiwanis and love the people that I have met through the civic organizations. I never lived in a small town before now and grew up always having friends but not really ever knowing a lot of people. This job has provided me the opportunity to really get to know the people that make up our town. Everyday my job is different. There is never the same thing to do twice and I am always getting to work with new people and getting to try new things. I love being able to go to a store or a restaurant and not only know the people that work there and the people that own it but I know the story behind it and my job is to contribute to them to them and come up with new creative ideas to help keep them successful. It is fun and challenging in a new way every day.
What important roles does Main Street play in the community?
I really like to think of our downtown as the heart of our community. I know that many different groups, organizations, schools and businesses contribute to making Carrollton what it is but our downtown is where it all started many many years ago and I feel that it is important to remember where we came from and to make sure that we don’t forget the traditions that have helped to shape our community.
Most towns have a Target, Wal-Mart, McDonalds, Longhorn…… but not everywhere has Horton’s Bookstore (the oldest bookstore in the state of Georgia!!!) or a Little Hawaiian. I think that it is easy to think “well shopping local doesn’t really affect me…. I don’t own a small business” but shopping local affects us all in some way. When you shop local that money comes back to you, you’re not just helping someone make a living you are also supporting your local city through taxes. That money gets put back into our community with gyms, pools, parks, greenbelt projects, football stadiums, jobs and much more.
I know that in ten years I want our downtown to be just as alive and vibrant as it is today if not even more. We have to support the small business that make up our downtown otherwise we run the risk of being a square with only rundown buildings and vacant store fronts.
What do you like to do when you're not working?
I have a group of great friends that I spend most of my time with. We have created a family dynamic amongst ourselves and to have this close knit group of friends in my life makes me feel really blessed. We tend to hangout locally in the smaller towns around Atlanta like Carrollton and Newnan. We have local hangouts we go back to time and time again. I am definitely into movies… and I’m always looking for the ultimate scare. I live with my sister here in Carrollton and even though I have only lived in Carrollton for 5 years somehow all my family has managed to relocate here. I love going to different events in the community and try to stay as involved as I possibly can. I love going to visit other small towns with Main Street programs because I want to see how we measure up. I know that we are doing some great stuff here in our downtown but there is always new fun things that can be added. A little inspiration never hurt anyone.
What do you like the most about Carrollton?
What I love most about Carrollton is without a doubt the people. I used to live in south Florida and the sense of community is just not the same. Trust me when I say that the people that live here are some of the most friendliest down to earth people I have ever met.
It still amazes me how connected everyone is when you live in a small town. Everyone knows each other….. it’s like having one big extended family. I’ve never experience anything like that before and it never ceases to amaze me. I love the rivalries between Central and Carrollton and I think that it is exciting that so many people come out to support their local teams and to watch the football games. I love that Carrollton is far enough from Atlanta and small enough of a city that they have been able to maintain small town traditional values but are close enough to a big city to not be out of touch with the times. I love that we have the University here to keep us new and fresh. I’m excited about the new football team and the stadium and have faith that in the future they might be as good as our Carrollton Trojans (just kidding).
I mean really…. What’s not to love about Carrollton
