Main Street Gray hosted the September meeting of the Georgia Downtown Association at Butler Hall and received envious comments about the venue from attendees from all over the state.
GDA Executive Director Jason Ford gave the welcome for the Sept. 17 meeting and explained the purpose of the non-profit is to advocate for Georgia downtowns.
He said that is done through networking and recognizing the hard work being done in communities.
“Our annual GDA conference brings the entire state together,” Ford said.
Main Street Gray Director Ashley Roberson expressed her appreciation for the local elected officials and Gray Downtown Development Authority members in attendance and welcomed the GDA members from across the state.
“We’ve got a lot going on,” she said.
Roberson said Gray has an estimated population of 3,400 and Jones County 28,000.
“We embrace the hometown feel and our excellent Gray Police Department and Jones County Sheriff’s Department,” she said.
The director pointed out that the GPD checks every business in the city each evening.
Roberson said after the Gray Bypass was opened, the state turned over West Clinton Street to the city. She said that means they can now shut down the street for downtown activities. She said the February Galentines event has been big as well as the Downtown Christmas Market.
The director said the biggest event to date is the Not So Scary Grayberry Spectacular that is a partnership with Main Street Gray, the Jones County/Gray Chamber of Commerce and downtown churches. She said the 2023 Halloween event had 90 trunks handing out candy and drew 4,300 people.
Roberson explained a new effort this year, Downtown Debuts, intended to welcome businesses that are not Chamber of Commerce members.
“It’s an opportunity to showcase them, and if they are chamber members, we do it in connection with the chamber ribbon cutting,” she said.
The director spoke about a new initiative working with Jones County High School for young entrepreneurs. She said it started with Georgia FLEX program, but because of the expense involved in that program, it was decided to host a local competition.
Roberson said the program fits into the Main Street model. She they had 17 students who participated in a Shark Tank-like competition and narrowed down the participants to 12.
The director said the students would work with coaches during the year and come to local events to sit up and sell. The winner of the competition will be selected at the end of the program.
Roberson talked about the successes of the Gray Downtown Development Authority, beginning with its first project, Main Street Station. She explained the building started out as a gas station and had many uses, including the home of the Gray Police and Fire departments.
She said several downtown buildings had been purchased in 2016 with the assistance of the Gray City Council, one of which, a former truck garage, is now the Butler Hall venue where the meeting was being held.
Those projects were the beginning of the transformation of downtown Gray. Roberson talked about a recent branding kickoff, a project that is a partnership with city and county governments and agencies in an effort to bring the entities together with a common, recognizable message and brand.
Looking toward the future, the director said they worked hard on a brewery ordinance with the goal of bringing a brewery to downtown Gray.
“We are just waiting on a spot,” she said.
Roberson said the next project is a building the city purchased on the corner of James Street and East Clinton. She said the goal is to eventually tear down the old buildings and create a new City Hall complex.
“People want to be downtown, but we don’t have the space,” she said.
Gray Mayor Pro Tem James Collins said Roberson had talked a lot about the big projects, but there have been many small projects that have made big differences in downtown.
City Councilman David Tufts said the progress would not have happened without people like Roberson and their vision.
“We have the right person in the job and the council is doing its part. We can’t pay her what she is worth,” he said.
Roberson said she has learned from other cities that they are lucky to have the relationship between the DDA and City of Gray.
“Their support is amazing, and it has paid off for downtown Gray,” she said.
Following a lunch catered by Treasures by the Tracks, meeting attendees went on a walking tour of Downtown Gray that ended with a treat of ice cream in the recently opened Cone Crazy on Main.
