Samuel Burney Hay III
Sam@fowlerprop.com
Hwy 278 CIDBIO (Click Here)
Sam Hay, a native of Covington, Georgia, received his undergraduate degree in Economics from Davidson College in 1984 and an MBA in Finance from Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina in 1986. He began his career with the Citizens and Southern National Bank (now Bank of America) in Atlanta in 1986 with responsibility for business development and lending to Fortune 1000 companies in the Southeast. In 1990, Hay joined the Bank of Covington, a $140 million asset community bank, with responsibility for the bank’s Conyers unit. He assumed duties as chief financial officer of the bank’s parent, Main Street Banks, Inc., in 1994. In 1996, Main Street consolidated its three subsidiary banks to achieve the efficiency and customer convenience of a one-bank holding company and Hay became CEO of the merged bank.
In early 2000, Hay helped negotiate a merger of equals of Main Street Banks with First Sterling Banks of Kennesaw, Georgia, creating a $1 billion asset banking company whose stock was traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol MSBK. After this merger, Main Street held the distinction of being the largest and highest performing community bank in metropolitan Atlanta for several years. Hay served as chief operating officer of the banking company until 2004. In late 2004, he was named CEO and served in this capacity until the company’s sale to BB&T Corporation in June 2006, at which time the company had assets of $2.5 billion and 24 banking centers across the northern arc of metropolitan Atlanta. Since 2006, Hay has been involved in the development and management of commercial real estate as a partner in Fowler Properties in Covington, with an emphasis on office, retail and industrial properties in the east Atlanta area.
Hay is currently a member of the boards of Piedmont Healthcare, Piedmont Newton Hospital, the Atlanta Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America and the Highway 278 Community Improvement District in Covington. In the past, he has served as an elder of the First Presbyterian Church of Covington and in leadership or fundraising positions with the Boy Scouts, Covington YMCA and Rockdale United Way. Sam and his wife, Loucy Tittle Hay, have a 19-year old son, Sam, and a 15-year old daughter, Allie, and live on a family farm outside Oxford, Georgia. In addition to spending time with his family, Sam enjoys being outdoors and has a particular interest in bird and large game hunting.
Board Member Spotlight (Click Here for Article)
Highway 278 CID Board Member Spotlight: Sam Hay, Ⅲ
The second article in a series of informative articles about the Highway 278 CID beginning with interviews of Board Members.
Sam Hay, Ⅲ has been involved with the community of Covington for his entire life. The aspect of Covington he sees as most unique, and what he likes most, is the true community feeling. “It maintains the small community feeling even though it has grown over the years.” This is why he immediately saw the benefits of joining the CID Board in 2014. “It just seemed like a natural way for landowners to contribute their own time and money but to also get back so much in return. It just made total sense.” He was originally approached about 17 or 18 years ago by Jim Weadick, retired CEO of the hospital, with the idea of forming a CID. Even though it took until 2014 to form the Highway 278 CID, Jim Weadick deserves credit for the ‘brainchild’. Before the CID was officially formed last year, a legal entity titled the Legal Association of Property Owners (Highway 278 Improvement Association) met regularly to lead to the legal formation of the CID. As a result of their hard work and dedication, the Newton County Community Improvement District Act was approved by the state legislature and signed into law by the governor in 2017. This Act allows for the creation of any CID within Newton County which could potentially lead to the improvement of other corridors or locations in Newton County in the future.
When asked what inspired him to join the board and commit his time to this project, he replied, “The concept of a Community Improvement District seemed to be a perfect idea of harnessing both private and public initiative, energy, and resources (money) to make things happen for our community.” The CID has a variety of projects they plan to accomplish including gateways, street trees, signals, medians, ease of bicyclists and pedestrians, etc. However, Sam is not more excited about one specific project over another. As a whole, he is looking forward to “rejuvenating our community and improving the quality of this corridor.”
The main challenges the CID has faced and continues to face seem to be unanimous from the board members. The largest hurdle at the moment and moving forward is funding. “Developing a vision and setting goals has not been difficult for us.” Convincing others has been the main issue. “The city and county absolutely can and should participate in the funding of this because the impact on the community and the ripple effect will be huge. If we change the whole look and feel of the main commercial corridor, it will have an effect on the whole community, not just the folks who own land there.” Our vision is to become Georgia’s most desirable community to live, work, play, and shop. Despite the challenges they have faced, he has faith their goals will be accomplished no matter how long it may take.
One important skill Sam must utilize as a CID board member is maintaining relationships. “The world is all about relationships, and as a CID board member I need to build and maintain those individual relationships. Second is using those relationships for the good of the community.” The more relationships you have, the more those people will want to interact and do business with you. Throughout his time as a community member and influential board member, he has learned to find people he is willing to be respectfully honest with while verbalizing his opinions. “I truly believe two people can disagree without being disagreeable.”
Mr. Hay believes in coordinated planning for the community. The community is better when many organizations are “working together to push the community in the right direction so the community, in general, is in favor of taking them forward.” When community leaders work together and towards the common goal of improving the community, everyone benefits. “People want to be a part of something good, new, and exciting. The CID could be a wonderful catalyst for this.” It is important to keep building the kind of community people will want to live in and without initiatives such as the Highway 278 CID our community will go backward.
The CID puts the community first and is transparent in their actions. One of their core beliefs is the Highway 278 CID is for the whole community, not just property owners. Everyone has an opportunity to benefit from these improvements. A main goal of the CID is to improve the value of the land for the benefit of the property owners. Besides just the financial benefits, he also sees pride as an intangible benefit to both the property owners and the community. “If the area is beautified the owners and citizens of the community will take a lot of pride in what they own.” However, many of the property owners have not been vocal with the CID regarding their questions and concerns. The tendency is for people not to pay attention or speak up until they see things affecting them. But the CID doesn’t want to get to a point where the physical projects have started and property owners are unaware and feel like they were not asked about their opinion. In Mr. Hay’s opinion, “the burden is on us to communicate and communicate again. We have been guilty of not over-communicating.” If they communicate more often, people will be more likely to get involved.
One of the most important tasks that falls on the board is exciting the community about the Highway 278 CID. Without the excitement people will not see the positive aspects of the CID and their intentions. “We need to generate the excitement and the interest in the CID. We can do this by communicating repetitively, having celebratory functions, running ads, and doing both tangible and intangible forms of communication.” This is what will have an impact on the citizens who might not yet know about the CID, but it is up to the Highway 278 CID board to teach them. The CID has created a Facebook page and website to begin this process.
During this interview process I have learned that leaders come in all shapes and sizes. This CID Board believes community involvement in a leadership role is critical to become the community we should be.
Written by Katie Beth Fowler
If you have any questions about the CID contact us at cid@selectnewton.com.
For more information go to our website https://278cid.com
Master Plan- http://www.thomasandhutton.com/278cid/cid-master-plan.html
Jimmy Tanner
Jimmytanner@newtonfederal.com
Hwy 278 CIDBIO (Click Here)
Jimmy Tanner serves as Vice President and Retail Division Manager for Newton Federal Bank, where he has worked since coming back home in 2005. With over 35 years of experience in sales and service, He is responsible for leading teams to grow business through sales, marketing, and relationship building strategies.
Jimmy is also very involved with the bank’s community involvement and volunteer efforts, eager to give back to his home town. Over the years, Jimmy has served on numerous local volunteer boards and committees, and in January of 2015 he was honored as the 2014 Spirit of Excellence Award winner by the Newton County Chamber of Commerce.
A graduate of Newton County Comprehensive High School, Jimmy earned his Bachelor’s degree in Business, with a double major in Management and Marketing from Georgia College and State University.
Jimmy and his wife Saba are proud parents of Nick, a United States Marine, and Sydnie, a freshman at Georgia State University with a passion and gift for music.
Board Member Spotlight (Click Here for Article)
Highway 278 CID Board Member Spotlight: Jimmy Tanner, Chairman
We are beginning a series of informative articles about the Highway 278 CID beginning with interviews of Board Members.
Jimmy Tanner represents Newton Federal Bank on the CID Board. He has been a part of the community of Covington for 30 years and has been on the CID Board since its inception in 2014. The board has been hard at work for the past four years as many steps needed to be accomplished before they could officially form the CID. They had to meet with property owners up and down the corridor to get them to agree to join the CID. Most people do not realize all of the work that has already been done behind the scenes leading up to where we are now. The biggest challenge the CID is currently facing and will continue to face is raising enough funds to begin a project that people can see. They have completed projects such as creating a Master Plan and collecting traffic surveys for the Georgia Department of Transportation. Everyone is anxious to get another project started, but because this is a state and federal highway and their regulations require them to do things in a certain order. The board members are not responsible for collecting funds, but they do have an important role in the community, which is to support their partners and spread the facts about the project. “It’s up to us to make sure people understand why we are doing what we are doing and make sure to clarify the message.”
Jimmy Tanner’s goal in joining the board is that he truly wants to make a difference and improve this community. When I asked him why he felt led to commit his time to these specific improvements, he said, “Even though times are changing, Highway 278 remains a major corridor in the city and county and an important commercial area.” The tangible goals of improving property values, improving occupancy rates, better safety, and making the area more pedestrian friendly are all encompassed by the larger goal of making a good impression to those who visit this area. Beautification is only one part of what the CID is doing because it can be seen more easily than some of the other goals. “We aren’t talking about just planting some flowers or some nice trees. The sidewalks are wider, the landscaping is attractive and inviting, and you feel safe. People can walk and ride their bikes, the signage is clean, and there are not a lot of wires.” He predicts that once the CID begins to “turn dirt” people will actually be able to visualize what the CID has been talking about. “We can show all the slides we want, have the engineers talk, have us talk to all these people, and share all the facts we want, but there’s something very different and impactful when you can actually drive by or see something face to face that is actually what we are planning.” An important thing to remember about the CID is that it is a workable plan and “once we raise the funds we can maintain the area, and it will be sustainable.”
Business leaders are a critical piece of the puzzle that is the Highway 278 CID. It is important that the business leaders along the corridor can “see the vision and believe that these things can happen.” The CID recognizes the importance of the business leaders’ support. “We want to support them.” The CID is not accomplishing these goals for the betterment of the board, but rather for the improvement of the people of Covington. They need business leaders, and community members, to be open-minded about change and ask the questions or give suggestions that they have. If you are reading this and are excited about the plans and what the CID has to offer, share videos and pictures with others in the community to get them excited about what is to come and how we can work together to make Highway 278 a more attractive corridor in our community. Overall, the most important thing for the community to know about the Highway 278 CID is that everything they are doing is to make improvements that will benefit the community in the long-term.
Written by Katie Beth Fowler
If you have any questions about the CID contact us at cid@selectnewton.com.
For more information go to our website https://278cid.com
Master Plan- http://www.thomasandhutton.com/278cid/cid-master-plan.html
Billy Fortson
bfortson@ginnchevy.com
Hwy 278 CIDBoard Member Spotlight (Click Here for Article)
Highway 278 CID Board Member Spotlight: Billy Fortson
This is the sixth article in a series of informative articles written by Katie Beth Fowler about the Highway 278 CID beginning with interviews of Board Members.
Billy Fortson moved to Newton County to go to Oxford college in 1960 and has been working at the Ginn Motor Company since 1969. As a long-time community member and property owner, he has experienced a variety of change in the area. However, Mr. Fortson does not shy away from change. He sees the value in the Highway 278 CID and has been a believer in this project since before it even had a name. He has been an essential member of the Board since it was created.
Jim Weadick, former hospital CEO, started this project 15 or so years ago. He met with a consultant in order to learn of any improvements he could make for the hospital. “Essentially the consultant said ‘You have a very nice hospital, but this corridor you have to get to the hospital is not the nicest’.” This got the idea floating for Mr. Weadick and since Mr. Fortson was on the hospital board, he immediately helped begin promotion. “We never got a whole lot of traction until the CID was founded and enough people finally got on board that people realized the importance of doing something to change the look for the business corridor.” This was only the beginning of their long journey.
As a property owner himself, Mr. Fortson understands that some property owners may only see it as a tax increase for them. However, “I don’t think a lot of people realize the value of retail in our community because of the money you collect for sales tax.” In his business, he recognizes the competition for business with Salem Road. He says that with the talk of Town Center, the property owners and merchants on Highway 278 should be concerned with the increase in competition. “[Hwy 278] loses 50% of the retail business because they go elsewhere in the county.” Someday there will be a retail shopping center in Covington and retailers will want to be in an attractive location which brings business. The Hwy 278 property owners have to take a step forward instead of playing it safe and remaining stagnant. “About half of the people in the community are going out of the county anyway, so we need to do something to keep that trend from continuing, and then we need to do something to bring them back.”
One way to bring back consumers, in Mr. Fortson’s opinion, is by making Highway 278 a more attractive area. “People are attracted to attractive areas and at this moment Highway 278 is not an attractive area.” Mr. Fortson says with Longhorn, Applebee’s, and Racetrack, you can see a preview of the improvements that could be achieved with some strategic planning. An attractive area brings in more business which results in more sales tax revenue that comes in which helps the different people who are living off of sales tax revenue. An example of this from our community is the Covington square. Before the reinvigoration of the square with new businesses, if someone drove through it would seem like a ghost town. Now you can see the improvement because of the new stores that are opening as well as the many consumers who keep the square busy. This is what he foresees happening with the Highway 278 CID. It might take a few years, but he believes in this project and that it will reach a point where Highway 278 is something the community will be proud of.
The CID is not only focused on bringing in new businesses, but also retaining the businesses. Part of the CID is to improve the area so we can keep the successful businesses that we have. If we maintain the same look and feel of the current CID, then those businesses will not be keeping up with the competition and might make the decision to leave. However, the businesses have to be bringing in income or they will not have the funds to make personal improvements to their buildings. The way in which the CID helps with this is by improving the corridor itself. The result will be a domino effect. The improvement of the corridor results in more consumers choosing to shop on Hwy 278 which brings in more income. More income would allow the property owners to create their own improvements to make their properties look better and perform better as well.
The large goals the CID have will take many years to be accomplished. “One of the first things to come up in the planning meeting is people asking ‘What would be the first thing we want to do on 278?’” In Mr. Fortson’s opinion, there are two things that could be improved which would have a dramatic effect on the look and feel of Hwy 278. The first thing would be getting rid of all the utility lines. “A lot of them are on old telephone poles that are bending and sticking out in places.” The other thing would be to put up adequate lighting since “at night, particularly in the winter time, it can be very dark up and down 278.” If you actually take time as you drive along Hwy 278, anyone can see there are aspects of the corridor that could be improved.
“The businesses are the backbone of the community.” Mr. Fortson is a business owner himself and has seen first hand the effect of businesses on different pockets of the community. For example, about 15 years ago the square started declining as a result of losing businesses. “Once you started bringing people back to the square with restaurants and small shops, you see it’s flourishing. It’s pretty basic.” You have to have businesses that people will want to go to in order to create a thriving economy for the community.
The biggest challenge the Hwy 278 CID has faced in this infancy is funding, “getting in the position where we can apply for grants and go after some big monies that will help us with these projects.” The CID wants this corridor to look and perform the best it possibly can. However, in order to obtain the large funds such as federal grants, “we’ve got to have some money to make some money.” The community plays a big role in the Hwy 278 CID as well. The citizens themselves can influence the organizations whom the CID is asking for funds.
The Hwy 278 CID is currently utilizing social media to advertise their goals to the community in a cheap and effective way. Mr. Fortson is aware of, from his business, the shift from traditional advertising and the rise of social media. “This is a good way to get to the people, young folks and old folks. The demographics of Covington has changed. A lot of these people coming here are young folks and Facebook is a medium to reach them.” Facebook is such a large market, which the Hwy 278 CID is now tapping into. Mr. Fortson would like the community to know that the Hwy 278 CID “is a very important project and is something that is needed if you want to have a vibrant business community in Covington.” If you do not want a vibrant business community in Covington then you must accept that more and more people will be going out of town to do their shopping, eating, and eventually living. We have the opportunity to expand the businesses and this corridor. It is important for us to take this opportunity while we have the chance.
If you have any questions about the CID contact us at cid@selectnewton.com.
For more information go to our website https://278cid.com
Master Plan- http://www.thomasandhutton.com/278cid/cid-master-plan.html
Anne Laster
lasteranne@gmail.com
Hwy 278 CIDBIO (Click Here)
Anne Patrick Laster born and raised in Newton County. Married 55 years to former Newton County Commissioner Monty Laster . Retired from Bank of North Georgia after 50 years of service. Presently Director Emeritus United Bank . Served in numerous civic and volunteer associations.
Ken Gaylord
Kgaylord@bbandt.com
Hwy 278 CIDBIO (Click Here)
My name is Ken Gaylord and I am pleased to be an initial member of the CID Board for the Highway 278 Corridor due to the incredible impact it will have on our community here in Covington, Georgia. I also serve as Market President for BB&T, representing a five county market to include Spalding, Butts, Henry, Rockdale and Newton County. I have been with BB&T for more than 15 years and am proud of the organization I am able to work for. BB&T has always prided itself on serving the communities in which we operate and is an integral part of our vision and mission statement, specifically, “helping our clients achieve economic success and financial security” and “making the communities in which we work better places to be”. Some of the values that drive us as an organization are ones that I uphold personally to include: honesty, integrity, reality (fact-based), reason (objectivity), independent thinking, productivity, teamwork, justice (fairness), and pride. These are values that I will certainly incorporate into my duties as a board member as I represent the land owners along the Highway 278 corridor.
I am excited to have this opportunity along such a great group of leaders within our community. Together I know that we will collaborate as a unified team in order to make Covington, Georgia a better place to live, work, and play.
Board Member Spotlight (Click Here)
Highway 278 CID Board Member Spotlight: Ken Gaylord
This is the fifth article in a series of informative articles written by Katie Beth Fowler about the Highway 278 CID beginning with interviews of Board Members.
Ken Gaylord has been a part of the community for about 7 years, but he says “even as a newer member of the community I have felt like I was home since day one.” He joined the Board as a representative for BB&T in 2014 before the CID was officially established. His inspiration for committing his time to the Board was because he wanted to make an impact on the community and because it seems like the natural next step for Covington. “By welcoming people into our community when they come down the corridor they will get the sense they are in some place special.”
The square has made improvements in recent years to improve the lifestyle of anyone who lives in or visits Covington, but Highway 278 is the main entry point into our community, beginning with Exit 90. Over the years the property values have deteriorated as well as the overall appearance of the corridor. “The more we can do as a board to improve the overall curb appeal and retail development along that corridor it’s only going to help entice new visitors to our community. Revitalization will help overall business development, an aspect of that is retail development, and with that comes the appreciation of our property values.”
There are three major reasons behind the formation of the CID. These include; improving the values of property owners along the corridor, improving overall business development, and perhaps most importantly is to make Covington a better place to live. “I plan to spend the rest of my career with Covington/Newton County being part of it and the more I can do to improve this community, why wouldn’t I want to be a part of that.” Some people get content with the status quo, especially since they have not seen drastic improvement or change over the years, but to him, it is the Board’s job to change the people’s minds.
Mr. Gaylord believes it is crucial to have all of the landowners come together as one decisive unit in order to help attract state and federal funds. “It certainly helps with the tax dollars we are bringing in to fund the Master Plans to show what the vision and goals are.” Ultimately, the Highway 278 CID is at a point where they need additional funding in order to be able to physically start making changes along the corridor. Part of this falls on the Board to communicate their overall mission of becoming Georgia’s most desirable community to live, work, play, and shop. “To me within the community and being a part of this board is trying to help business owners and community leaders understand the importance of the CID and the incredible impact it can have on this community.”
Throughout every step of the process, the CID Board has prioritized partnerships. These partnerships include landowners, especially in the beginning as they were trying to get buy-in. The Highway 278 CID landowners play a critical role since their tax dollars contribute to the funding of these plans and projects. However, “the tax dollars we collect is an initial investment. It helps us leverage so many other resources in order to get these projects accomplished.” In order to reach their vision, they need the support of the entire community. This is where they focus on “trying to get community leaders and government to understand our sole focus is to help this community become better.” The support of the community, including landowners, can also help influence these partnerships by vocalizing their support of these improvements. The CID has to have the backing of partnerships in order to accomplish their goals.
In Mr. Gaylord’s opinion, the easy part of the vision is how the improvements will impact the property owners and tenants. “Property owners are directly going to see the improvement of property value and traffic patterns, as well as additional [potential consumers] coming down the corridor because it will be more inviting.” Business owners will also benefit from the additional profits. “It’s really a no-brainer for the businesses along the corridor and how they are going to benefit.” We have evidence of the positive effects of Community Improvement Districts throughout Georgia such as Cumberland CID in Cobb County, Buckhead CID, and Gwinnett Village CID. In each of these districts we can see the revitalization and improvements taking place we hope to someday see in Covington.
When asked how the changes will motivate property owners to make improvements Mr. Gaylord said, “Once you get the ball rolling and people start to see the improvements and change along the corridor, it’s just a matter of people wanting to do their part.” The CID is a collective unit of landowners and as they begin to see the improvements taking place it will be an encouragement to keep up with the competition. “As they see improvements they are going to want to be a part of the team and do their own part to improve their properties which will only help them in the end.”
The Board is as eager as anyone to obtain the funding to be able to get these projects started. However, “it’s not going to happen overnight which makes this extremely hard for the Board because we would love to start breaking ground tomorrow.” Since they are not yet in this position it is important to do all they can to show what their vision is and what they can help create in this community. They are advocating for their vision which is centered on the benefit of the overall community.
If you have any questions about the CID contact us at cid@selectnewton.com.
For more information go to our website https://278cid.com
Master Plan- http://www.thomasandhutton.com/278cid/cid-master-plan.html
Gil Gainer
Gainer@toliverandgainer.com
Hwy 278 CIDBIO (Click Here)
Gil Gainer is a native of Newton County, graduate of the University of Georgia (’78) and Walter F. George School of Law – Mercer University (’81). In addition to his law practice (Toliver & Gainer), Gil serves on the Board of Governors for the State Bar of Georgia. He was selected by the Newton County Board of Commissioners to serve on the Hwy. 278 CID Board of Directors in June, 2017.
Board Member Spotlight (Click Here)
Highway 278 CID Board Member Spotlight: Gil Gainer
This is the fourth article in a series of informative articles written by Katie Beth Fowler about the Highway 278 CID beginning with interviews of Board Members.
Gil Gainer is a native of Newton County and a property owner on Highway 278. Although he has traveled and lived in other places, he says “the sense of the community the people of Newton County have is the best.” He was a later addition to the Board as he was selected to be Newton County’s representative. He felt honored to be asked to join the Highway 278 CID because he sees the benefits this can have on our community.
The first way Mr. Gainer sees the CID improving the city of Covington and Newton County has to do with the roadways themselves. “There can be work along [the roadway] to improve the appearance, safety, and efficiency of traffic flow along that 278 corridor. We can improve the quality of life by creating new development and revitalizing the commercial areas on either side.” Highway 278 is the center of our county and his goal is to see this corridor become a “destination point” instead of an avenue for commuting. “We want to attract people to this area rather than continue to have the leakage of commercial business to Conyers and other surrounding areas.”
“The Highway 278 corridor is the heartbeat of our community.” The community is not only Covington but spreads to the whole of Newton County. Mr. Gainer understands everything has to be done in steps. It is important to be “patiently persistent.” The plans of the CID take coordination between the state and local government to make improvements along the highway. The Board remains optimistic they will see their Master Plan eventually come to fruition. As these steps begin to take place “naturally it will draw more people to the area and encourage local businesses to improve and enhance the commercial properties along Highway 278.” These projects are collective, and as they must happen in steps, the Board must see the holistic view of the future of Highway 278.
Unlike many of the other Board members who joined the Legal Association of Property Owners and were part of the process in making the CID official, Gil Gainer was selected to join the Board after the legal formation of the CID. Because of this, he has a different outlook on the challenges the CID has faced in the past. The main challenge continues to be funding because “we have created a district in which all of the property owners are contributing an additional tax money towards those improvements but that’s only a small portion of the money necessary to make those improvements.” Besides securing funding, “another significant challenge will be initially the roadway work and improvements because it takes the coordination of so many local governments; Covington, Newton County, and the Department of Transportation.” This challenge can be accomplished with “time, patience, and persistence.” The important thing to remember is “just because it’s hard doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it.”
The Highway 278 CID is a “community effort” and Board members must “continue to pursue the goal of improving this corridor.” The Board needs the support of the property owners along the corridor which means they need to “communicate well to help everyone understand the importance and significance of what we are doing.” As communicators to the property owners, the community, and the elected officials the Board must publicize the fact that the CID “ impacts not just our immediate future but our long-term future.”
Mr. Gainer highlights the importance of seeking out those with expertise to support them in their endeavors. This includes the Thomas and Hutton engineers who created the Highway 278 CID’s Master Plan. The Board made their judgments based on “what will serve the corridor and the community the best.” All Highway 278 CID Board meetings are open to the public and they make an effort to obtain thoughts and opinions from property owners on the corridor and other citizens. “We are doing our best to make these plans accessible to everyone for their consideration, input, and thoughts.”
Regarding the property owners in the community, they will benefit “by increasing their business and making the area more attractive, safer, and more efficient which will directly improve business.” Once other property owners begin to see the true benefits of the CID they may want to become a part of the CID. By improving the corridor the CID will “make the investment of a property owner more attractive and more likely to create a better return on investment.” People in business understand you have to invest to get a return. “The legislation allows for contiguous extensions of the corridor. The CID is not limited.”
The bottom line is, the Board has to create excitement for the greater public. For those who have already observed the plans, there is interest and excitement there. We have added a website and a Facebook page as a way to stir up more interest in the community. “The real excitement is going to occur when things start visibly taking place. I wish this could be next week, but it really is going to take patient persistence to get this done.” Mr. Gainer wants to make sure the community understands “this is a great opportunity for us as a community to improve. While it will take time to accomplish these goals, now is the time to do it.”
If you have any questions about the CID contact us at cid@selectnewton.com.
For more information go to our website https://278cid.com
Master Plan- http://www.thomasandhutton.com/278cid/cid-master-plan.html
Jared Rutberg
jaredrutberg@gmail.com
Hwy 278 CIDBoard Member Spotlight (Click Here)
Highway 278 CID Board Member Spotlight: Jared Rutberg
This is the third article in a series of informative articles written by Katie Beth Fowler about the Highway 278 CID beginning with interviews of Board Members.
Jared Rutberg is a charter member of the Highway 278 CID Board and represents small businesses. As the owner of Covington Pro Lube on Highway 278, he sees the potential Covington has as a “small town with a lot of opportunities.” Despite the potential Covington and Newton County hold, he sees the opportunity for growth. “The mindset of acknowledging where we are today and where we need to continue to go to be successful” is one of the most important changes that needs to be made before Covington can fully grow. Sometimes people resist change because they see everything as the way it was and think this is how it always should be. However, moving forward as a community is the most important thing. “We are lucky to have an infrastructure and interstate in place. We have potential but we need to see the benefits of changes.”
The reason why the Highway 278 CID corridor is important is because it is the spine of the community. This roadway plays a critical role for the city of Covington but also for Newton County. “You have to have a strong spine to be able to build the rest of the body.” Highway 278 in its current state does not look as good as it could and it does not perform well based on transportation flow. “Once the CID has improved the look, feel, and performance of the corridor, the surrounding area will also be enhanced.”
The property owners on the Board have committed their money to this project by agreeing to the extra tax. They have donated their time because they believe in the potential of this project. When asked why he believes in this project, Mr. Rutberg said “In this order, reason one is the betterment of the community. I want this to be a place where my kids return after college and decide this is where they want to raise their families. A distinct second reason is from a business standpoint. If the corridor is better, business will be better for me.” As a business owner, he looks forward to seeing the corridor improve in transportation flow as well as in appearance. As a subset of these goals, specifically, the burying of power lines would make a big difference to him. In front of his business the power lines almost seem to block the view and they are constant reminders of the beautification improvements he would like to see made.
The CID continues to garner buy-in from more property owners along the corridor. It is important for them to all be on the same team. “Some people say it looks fine now, but they have to understand if we don’t continue to improve, this area will die.” It is important to always look forward and continue to make long-lasting improvements to our community. Although the support is growing, the Highway 278 CID must continue to work hard for funding in order to complete their projects.
The CID Board members each have a distinct role in community leadership. Mr. Rutberg believes his most important role is communication. This includes “communication with property owners, elected officials, and with other interested parties and leaders in the community.” It is part of his responsibility to “engage other property owners, make sure they understand what’s going on and what our objectives are.” Feedback is valued within the CID because the Board exists to represent the owners. “This isn’t ‘our project’ meaning the board members. This is ‘our project’ meaning the entire corridor, all of the property owners. As a subset of this is ‘our project’ meaning the entire county.” The operation of Highway 278 is a county-wide issue. It is important for everyone to understand what we are trying to do.
The improvements for the tenants include “better quality traffic flow, instead of people commuting through. It will also increase the number of higher income shoppers who base where they shop on how it looks and feels.” The improvements will motivate property owners to make changes to their property because they will want to “keep up with the Joneses.” Business owners are constantly keeping an eye out for competition, if “someone else is doing or looking better than them, they will work to keep up.”
Overall, the excitement will arise from the community once the CID breaks ground. However, until all of the previous steps have been completed and enough money has been raised to break ground the CID still needs support from the community to be high. If you support the Highway 278 CID share the excitement and news with your neighbors and let them know why this will benefit our community.
If you have any questions about the CID contact us at cid@selectnewton.com.
For more information go to our website https://278cid.com
Master Plan- http://www.thomasandhutton.com/278cid/cid-master-plan.html
Kathy Morgan
cid@selectnewton.com
Hwy 278 CID