Before I get into this, my opinion here is not a slight directed at Macon County. In fact, they are doing great things for our community’s economic health. Their salute will come soon enough.
Today’s opinion is focused on the county seat – Franklin. I believe Franklin and its leaders deserve a call out because of their many proactive measures designed to generate meaningful growth for all our residents.
The first action worth highlighting is as much an act of kindness, as it is a powerful message to the business community that Franklin really cares.
The unnecessary refund
Recently, a local businessman (who shall remain nameless) was plunging full-speed ahead to expand his business and develop a property off of 441. His cost projections were liberal. He expected and prepared for his project to be very expensive.
Unfortunately, it was more than anything he imagined. The price of clearing and preparing land, and building a new facility got nuts. Costs quickly became prohibitive. And, instead of over-extending himself and the business, he made the smart call to cut bait.
Along the way, he paid the Town of Franklin $70,000 for water service to the new building. These are called tap fees. Every developer expecting to connect to the town water supply pays them.
With his expansion scrapped, he hoped to recoup those fees. The members of the council rightly asked town attorney John Henning, Jr. to research the issue. It was uncharted territory. They smartly took an extra month to consider it.
Here are the facts: The town did no material water work on the property. It made some purchases of equipment that was never used, and should be available for a future project.
The town also had no policy for refunding money. They could easily have used that excuse to keep the money. Town’s rarely stumble into new “found money”.
But they did the right thing. They voted to refund the money.
This is a POWERFUL message to the business community. While no jurisdiction is perfect in its management of the various business processes, our town showed it cares about businesses, and the business owners.
I’m going to list the leaders who vetted and voted on this issue. They deserve to be credited by name. If I miss anyone, my sincerest apologies:
- Mike Lewis, vice mayor
- Jeff Berry, councilman
- Joe Collins, councilman
- Travis Higdon, councilman
- Rita Salain, councilwoman
- Robbie Tompa, councilman
The following are non-voting members or support staff of the council that deserve mention:
- Stacy Guffey, mayor (non-voting)
- Amie Owens, town manager
- John Henning, Jr., town attorney
- Justin Setser, former town planner
I know there are more employees who could and should be named, just know every business owner that reads this will be grateful for the Town’s decision to respect and protect them.
Main St. transformation
Here’s another strong action and powerful message to the business community.
Currently, the town is seeking to enhance our main thoroughfare and community tourist attraction while simultaneously working to rejoin the Main Street Program.
To this overall effort, I would add newly promoted Assistant Town Manager and Finance Director Sarah Bishop for earned credit.
In economic development terms, the transformation is seeking to beautify and strengthen our central corridor.
Let’s be clear, when it comes to our tourism industry, Main Street is critical. When it comes to our town’s image and the central location for so many of our community events, Main Street is critical.
That said, Main Street is not perfect. Oh, I believe it’s wonderful, but not perfect. To those who think change is bad, or upgrades are unnecessary, I wholeheartedly disagree. Expanding sidewalks, righting the parking situation, adding trees, beautifying facades, and more, will make Franklin a better place and better experience for everyone.
What will this do economically?
Invite more restaurants, more retail, more events, giving locals more choices and more to do, while attracting more visitors who will linger and spend more money. This will help create jobs for our youth who can learn business in the retail and restaurant industries. It will usher in growth for our local service industries. Those buildings lining Main will attract more investment. It may bring the much-desired hotels we need.
What does this mean for families?
Who sponsors the little league teams, nonprofit fundraisers, and the food banks? Who makes sure the cleaners, grocery stores, real estate agents, veterinarians, and handymen stay in business? It is the businesses and employees who invest in their hometown.
And something truly great is that there is no expansion into our natural resources. Franklin is simply looking to update and upgrade already existing infrastructure.
The program
As mentioned above, Franklin is working to rejoin the Main Street Program (MSP). Doing so will allow the town to seek and infuse grant money to serve the town’s interior.
Again, this is another pro-active measure taken by town leaders to improve our economic situation.
In brief, the history of the Main Street Program began in the 70s as a community revitalization initiative for downtown and small-town business districts. There are national and state level versions. One original goal was to reverse the death of small town main streets as manufacturing left our shores.
My hope is Main Street will see a tourism bump, but also an economic surge. Franklin has a technology background thanks to Drake, Duotech, and Wired. With office space available around town hill, and maybe room to develop the upper floors of our iconic Main Street buildings, we can welcome high paying jobs to an area that doesn’t have the space to expand like other communities.
Our community
Lastly, I want to highlight our neighbors who took time out of their own schedules to participate in the public programs. This includes those who took to Facebook to express their concerns and support.
There will be another chance for input as surveys are being readied for release to the public. Answer the call. When we all do this together, the more we help our leaders keep the momentum going to create real, positive change.
And to the leaders in the county offices, thank you in advance for your help and support. It will be needed. A high tide raises all boats. How you choose to get these efforts across the finish line will go a long way to helping Highlands, Otto and Nantahala also move forward.
In closing, the message our town leaders are sending to the broader business community is simple and powerful: Franklin is open for business, and Franklin is good for business.