The Micro-Economies of Cherokee County
I admit it...I have not paid for an Amazon Prime membership yet. I feel like one of the rare few that is not an active member. I do enjoy coming home to the smiling box waiting for me on my doorstep and love convenience as much as the next guy. However, the smiling box delivery service does not match the same feeling(s) that I get have after sharing a conversation with someone that I know or get to know, and then walking out with purchase in hand.
All cities, municipalities, counties, regions, etc. are more successful when they can more strongly rely on local businesses for their basic needs. As with the most recent recession (2008), areas that looked internally for solutions typically rebounded faster and are less affected when the overall economy corrects.
PREFACE
Are we primarily a product or service-based economy? What are we good at, what is the city's or county's strength? Is our product clearly defined? As Cherokee County continues to grow and expand, will residents begin to no longer "know" the businesses they patronize? With our recent popularity, will we become a community of non-locally owned, big box businesses? Can we sustain ourselves on Beer, Pie, Shoes, and Sunroofs alone... ?
Cherokee County (Georgia) and its smaller municipalities (Woodstock, Canton, Holly Springs, Ball Ground, and Waleska) will be the focus of this post. I believe the cities listed above represent a mostly successful cross section of historical, present, and future economic development programs for many suburban communities. You should consider the difference between Micro and Macro Economics prior to proceeding... For the purposes of this post, I will treat the cities as Micro-economies and Cherokee County area as the Macro-economy. Also, if you have a general understanding of the main differences between Austrian and Keynesian schools of economic theory, you will understand several of my references. If you do not want to do any research, here are the cliff-notes. Austrian focuses on the free market determining everything with limited to no government interference. Keynesian is the opposite; the government and its authorities (aka The Federal Reserve Bank - The FED) use economic modeling to control the economy via fiscal policy.
SIDE NOTE
The only way any community will ever be able classify themselves as a "live, work, play" or "walk-able" community will be to lower the high percentage of retail establishments in their respective Downtown Development Authority (DDA) areas, increase the percentage of professional businesses with higher paying, salaried positions vs only the hourly wage workers that make up most of the DDA's economies, and focus on long term housing solutions for all residents. If hourly wage workers cannot afford to live in your DDA (most likely area of a city to have "live work play" capability) area they will only add to any perceived traffic problem.
I also love where I live, in between Woodstock, Holly Springs, and Hickory Flat. I love spending time in many of the local downtown communities but call Woodstock home. While I believe the historical development of our community has led to its popularity, its future should be determined today by the residents that are involved and contribute.
WOODSTOCK
Woodstock is like living in a college town with money. - Dr. Steve Morse - Dean of the Mccamish School of Business at Reinhardt University
In my opinion, Woodstock's biggest strength as it's grown and continues to grow is its attempt to maintain a "Small Town" atmosphere. As someone that has spent a large part of my life in small towns (mostly in South Carolina, also NC, NY, and now GA), I appreciate the attitude. Small Towns bring a warm and welcoming atmosphere when you can venture out without a plan and end up having a great morning, afternoon, and/or evening because of the people you know and/or meet while out and about. Part of this is due to Woodstock's rural, yet railroad centralized downtown area, and its early ability to develop based on the needs of the community. Woodstock is the social, party center of Cherokee County. Restaurants, bars, nightlife, Elm Street Cultural Arts Center, and a few professional offices make up most of downtown Woodstock. Part of the organic, natural, small town feel of Woodstock is due in part to the people that created, developed it. Over the past 10 years or so, Woodstock has also done an excellent job at attracting an abundant amount of visitors/tourists to the city.
I love Dr. Morse's quote (see above) that he delivered at the Tourism & Economics Presentation at the IN WDSTK Morning INfluence on February 22nd, 2019. Unfortunately, there is not a non-technical "college" in Woodstock. Chattahoochee Technical College will never provide the same type of atmosphere as some of the examples listed below in the "Waleska" section.
Need: More Professional Services business to support the businesses/residents and bring higher paying jobs for the young professionals wanting to live in Downtown Woodstock.
CANTON
As the county seat, Canton has been and will continue to the be the political heart of Cherokee County. As it's developed overtime, most of the downtown development has been dictated by the profitability of supporting local government. As a result, many of the business in downtown either directly and/or indirectly support the infrastructure of government. Law firms, banks, the newspaper, funeral homes, and other professional offices dominate most of the downtown. I have heard many county residents comment that "Canton is trying to be like Woodstock." In my opinion, Canton has the opportunity to be develop more sustainably than Woodstock due to its existing, more walk-able downtown layout and ability to provide more high paying, salaried positions. As new leaders step up and begin to represent the voices of younger residents, Canton could grow into a more vibrant downtown community for all residents and visitors.
Need: Time and Young, Vocal leadership to make things happen in the present vs the future.
HOLLY SPRINGS
As the smallest of the 3 southernmost cities in the county and the least developed, Holly Springs can almost start from scratch, except for a few important buildings. My hope is that community leaders allow the market to determine if, when, what, and how the downtown is constructed. Whatever happens, let's pray that the end result does not feel like a fake or fabricated downtown. I have heard a countless number of county residents say that, "Holly Springs can't figure out whether it wants to be Woodstock or Canton." I think Holly Springs should be something completely different and not rely on existing downtown models like having a brewery or another amphitheater as an anchor tenant. The city should pursue an idea, or an attitude rather than a development plan focused on the infrastructure. I have heard many unique ideas for the city, here are several examples:
#1. Holly Springs should brand itself for the future as the marijuana capital of Georgia
#2. Holly Springs - reasonable taxes and the northwestern most MARTA stop
#3. "Mead me in Holly Springs" (look up Mead)
Since the local government is heading up the downtown development plans, it will likely lead to a less than desirable result. Potential marketing might read "The new and desirable downtown Holly Springs is now offering free basements and $5000 in closing costs." I would prefer to see the City provide tax incentives, marketing support, preferential permitting, an economic development dept focused on attracting businesses that want to build in Holly Springs vs the "build it and they will come" mentality. I also feel allowing the businesses to determine the look of the new downtown would build a more unique and sustainable downtown.
Need: Businesses that do not want to be in the "social center" but still close to ATL.
BALL GROUND
In many ways, Ball Ground has leapfrogged some of its larger neighbors in popularity. This could be due to the popularity of the North GA mountains not only as a destination, but a potential home for many people looking for a simpler, calmer, smaller lifestyle. The DDA area of Ball Ground already has several unique businesses that bring visitors in from outside of Ball Ground while continuing to keep the servicing of their local community as a top priority. Even though it's many years behind in economic development, it's "Woodstock like" Main Street and downtown area give Ball Ground the opportunity to be a better and more sustainable version of Woodstock. With the recently filed application for a Dominic's Pizza (incorrectly listed on the Ball Ground City Council Agenda as Truck and Tap) in its downtown and recent status as a "suburb of Atlanta," Ball Ground has the opportunity to take the best parts of other cities around it to be a smaller and more sustainable "Woodstock of the North" (in my best John Snow voice) as it develops.
Need: Calculated and visionary leadership to allow for slow, steady and sustainable growth because it's coming!
WALESKA
Since Reinhardt University encompasses most of the city and the only University headquartered in the county, Waleska should be known as the "educational center of Cherokee County." And since Waleska is somewhat off the beaten path, they NEED to do a better job building the community around the university using examples like Campbell University (Buies Creek, NC) and Western Carolina (Cullowhee, NC) on the smaller end and Clemson (SC) on the larger one. Students need off campus places to reside, hang out, and most importantly, socialize (aka party, dance, eat, drink, commune, etc.). I have gotten to know several of the school's professors, one of the Dean's, and recently attended a presentation that included several of the soon to be graduating MBA students. While I greatly respect the professors and school's leadership, I hope that the next group of students that presents better showcases the programs at Reinhardt University, mainly their MBA program.
Need: Focus on developing the Free Thinkers of North Georgia to serve as the educated leadership in the Cherokee County.
WHAT MAKES A HAPPY CITY?
If you have not read this book, you should... Happy City by Charles Montgomery. Sometimes it takes Trial and Error to see what will, might, or does not work for any particular community. Crazy ideas do not hurt either, especially when they are successful.
MY COMMON SENSE
Overall, each city within Cherokee County needs to figure out what it wants to be when it grows up, clearly define its "product" and the associated goal(s). This should be done in conjunction with the needs of the residents, tax payers, etc.
The "Product" of any City is what it wants to primarily be known as both inside and outside of its community. In my opinion, this should be accomplished by pooling together influential individuals, businesses, community leaders, etc. and then presenting this info to City Leaders and Elected Officials. Based on my experience thus far in Cherokee and if I were the CMO for the county, this is how I would market us:
WORK in Canton
LEARN in Waleska
BUILD in Holly Springs
SOCIALIZE in Woodstock
RELAX in Ball Ground
RAISED by Cherokee County, the place we call home.
This does not mean that you cannot Work in Woodstock or that you cannot Socialize in Canton, putting labels/focuses on each area more clearly defines the primary goal for each community. Trying to be a purveyor of everything normally means you're good at everything and great at nothing. Having each city contribute what it does best means that everyone focuses on the strengths in contributing to the greater goal, a stronger overall community without stifling and/or bitter competition between the smaller municipalities.
For this to happen, a large percentage of residents must willing to patronize, shop, live, work, play, pray, own businesses, and contribute to our community. The more locally owned and managed businesses in the community the better the chance we will continue to grow, know our neighbors and their businesses long into the future.
If you want to share your story or have a constructive conversation about this or anything else, message me, and let's grab coffee or a beer.
Have a good one,
Dan
