By Andrew Edwards
Elmore/Autauga News Staff Writer
He only started on Monday of last week, but new Economic Development Director for the City of Prattville Josh Johnson has already been hard at work.
Johnson, 33, made the move to Prattville after serving as Economic Development Director in Madison, AL for just under a year. Before landing that role, Johnson worked in transportation planning in Jefferson County, AL for the transit authority.
He served six years in the Marine Corps where he reached the rank of sergeant. For the past four years has been a part of the National Guard where he has also reached that same rank.
Before entering the workforce, Johnson obtained his undergraduate degree at the University of North Alabama in Political Science. He attained his Masters in Public Administration at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Johnson and his wife, Elizabeth, were excited about the opportunity to come to the Prattville area. He believes that the city is growing at an exponential rate, and that it would be the perfect place to raise his two younger children, Sara and Josiah.
“We’re really big into kayaking, so we used to come down to the Autauga creek a lot. Our first trip down here, I had never been to Prattville. We went down to the creek and noticed that it was a lot cleaner and cooler than other places. The downtown area was awesome, and after we kayaked, we went to Fox’s Pizza. We really loved our experience, and just kept visiting over and over again after that,” Johnson said.
Johnson also explained that Prattville’s capable workforce and friendly community helped in his decision to come.
“I know that a lot of places like to market themselves as having big-city amenities with a small-town feel and Prattville, to me, has really felt like that. There’s a lot of potential here – an educated workforce, a strong, cohesive community and great assets. The industrial park and great downtown area a just a few of those assets,” Johnson said.
While the city has continued outward expansion more and more throughout the past 15 years, Johnson said that it’s important to remember the existing structures that are already here.
“You always want to keep pushing the ball forward, maybe even at a faster rate than it’s been. It’s not just about expanding outward, but also focusing on what’s vacant in our existing inventory. It all really needs to be guided by what the community wants to see for their city,” Johnson said.
In terms of his philosophy as an Economic Development Director, Johnson says that not all growth is good growth.
“I think it’s smart and sustainable growth. Not all growth is technically good growth. You can quickly become unsustainable, and you see that in cities where they attract a lot of residential and don’t have the tax base to support their schools anymore. You need to grow in a way that’s strengthening your existing industry clusters that you have, and capitalize on your workforce,” Johnson explained.
Johnson also said that it’s important to keep people working within the city, instead of travelling to other areas.
“There’s a lot of people in Prattville who travel to Montgomery to work, and we’d like to mitigate that to a certain extent. We want to reduce people’s travel cost so they have more disposable income and keep them employed here,” Johnson said.
Johnson said that there’s definite room for growth in the Downtown area and industrial park, and that those two areas would be some of the first places that he would like to focus. He also said it’s important to look at vacant sights along Cobbs Ford Road, such as the sight for the old Food World.
“Those types of places are immediate action items that I look forward to dealing with,” Johnson said.
Ultimately, Johnson said that community involvement will play a key role in growth as he eases more into his new position.
“You have to be engaged with the community. That can look a lot of different ways, from professional organizations that you join to attending commercial broker development association meetings,” Johnson said.
“I want to get the pulse for what people want to see. I don’t think this position should just be one man dictating everything that comes into the city. I think it should be a buy-in from the community as well.”
