Why we moved to Canton, Georgia
It’s been almost four years now since my wife and I decided to move to north Georgia. Now is a good time to reflect on that decision and how it turned out.
Our lives were very fulfilling in Mississippi. My wife was a retired statewide association executive. I was directing an economic/community development program at a college and writing columns for a statewide business journal. We were both tennis players and involved in the community. Like most grandparents, we wanted to be closer to our grandchildren and children. Our daughter, son-in-law, and four grandchildren lived in Alpharetta and our son lived in Chattanooga. The six-hour drives were getting old. We had the opportunity to retire, and so we began planning.
What we wanted
1. Location convenient to children and grandchildren
2. An authentic downtown
3. A town with a strategic plan – (Phil’s in economic development)
4. A Main Street community
5. Tennis courts – either public or private
6. Progressive local leadership
7. A small yard – Phil
8. A house with extra space for grandchildren
What we got
1. Location was our most important consideration. In general, our beginning search was bounded by a triangle from Birmingham to Asheville to Atlanta. We narrowed that to a general area from Dahlonega to Marietta. Cherokee County fit the bill and Canton won out. Close enough to grandchildren, but not next door.
2. An authentic downtown. North Georgia is growing. Some of the new towns are creating new urbanism-style downtowns. They’re beautiful, but they look more like real estate developments than real downtowns. Canton is the county seat of Cherokee County and has been around for a long time. It was founded in 1834. Its downtown is centered along two parallel streets four blocks long. It has a beautiful gazebo park right in the middle of town. Think Hallmark show. There are also several local restaurants on Main Street. Indeed, the first restaurant we ate lunch at when visiting the area was Goin’ Coastal, a first-rate sustainable seafood restaurant. Downtown is also the site of numerous community events, including outdoor music concerts, a seasonal farmer’s market, and many special events such as an art and wine walk. In short, there are lots of activities downtown.
3. Phil’s long-time experience in community and economic development meant that he knew that a city with a strategic plan was vitally important. Canton is a model in that regard. The city’s Roadmap to Success recently won the Georgia Municipal Association’s Visionary City Award.
4. Based on past involvement with the Mississippi Main Street Association, we knew that Main Street cities paid attention to their downtowns. We didn’t want to move to a community with a dying downtown. Canton has an active Main Street program.
5. Both of us are tennis players. Tennis is our primary form of exercise, plus the social aspect of tennis has been a bonus. Some of our closest friends are tennis friends. We were pleasantly surprised to see that most neighborhoods we looked at had tennis courts. However, most had only two courts. At River Green subdivision we discovered six tennis courts, two clubhouses, and two swimming pools. We are now actively involved in tennis and the grandkids love the swimming pools and playgrounds.
6. Progressive local leadership is the hallmark of a successful, vibrant, and growing community. Canton’s City Council is a model of transparency. It listens to the community and its website is informative and is a portal to what’s going on. Local community groups are impressive, arts and culture are important, and parks and recreation abound.
7. I’ve spent many years mowing, weeding, raking, etc. I wanted to put that in the past so a small yard is a bonus. Also, Carol has many spaces for flowers.
8. At River Green we were able to get a newly built home on a cul-de-sac. Our home has plenty of space for grandkids, a view of a mountain (one that even has marble), and backyard woods for exploring.
In addition to the above, we found a welcoming community and great day trip opportunities to mountain towns, wineries, and outdoor activities.
In summary, we found everything we were looking for in Canton – and more.
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November 25, 2024
THIS LITTLE DOLLAR STAYED HOME
This is a tale of two dollars. One stayed at home. One went to another town.
Once upon a time, there were two dollars. They each lived with their owners in the small town of Make-Believe. Make-Believe was a lovely little town. It had a Main Street with many little shops selling special items and arts and crafts that catered to people driving through town. There was also a grocery store. There was even a doctor in Make-Believe. It was a lovely little town enjoyed and appreciated by all its residents, none of whom wanted it to change.
The story of the first dollar is easy to tell. Its owner placed it snugly in her purse and drove forty-five minutes to a nearby, larger town with a shopping mall. The owner stayed all day at the mall and spent the entire dollar on things bought in stores owned by big corporations in faraway states.
Part of the first little dollar stayed in that town, and part went to the state government, but most went by electronic magic to another state. The owner went back to Make-Believe with all their treasures. Not one penny of the first dollar ever saw Make-Believe again.
The story of the second dollar is much different. The owner of the second dollar went to a little shop in downtown Make-Believe. There, the owner talked for a long time to the shop owner about the beautiful merchandise in the store.
The shopkeeper told everyone about the things made right there in Make-Believe. Robert built birdhouses, Bianca made beveled glass, Mariah made mocha chocolates, and Sonny crafted silverware.
This dollar owner spent the entire dollar right there in the shop.
The journey of the second dollar was much different from that of the first dollar. Yes, the first few cents were sent to the state government. The shop owner took the next fifty cents and sent them to the manufacturers of the items bought. Because all of them lived right there in Make-Believe, the fifty cents stayed there.
The next sixteen cents went to the shop owner’s employee. Yes, you guessed it—the employee lived in Make-Believe.
There was rent to pay for the shopkeeper’s retail space. It was
paid to the owner of the building, who had lived in Make-Believe all their life. The rent was ten cents of the dollar.
The shopkeeper had to pay operating expenses, such as utilities, maintenance, and insurance. Sixteen cents of the dollar went to pay those expenses. Some people who got paid lived in another town far away. Still, eight of those sixteen cents were paid to people in Make-Believe.
That left eight cents. What would happen to it?
That’s right. Eight cents was the shopkeeper’s profit. Of course, the shopkeeper lived in an apartment upstairs above the shop.
If we total where the second dollar went, we learn that about ninety cents stayed in Make-Believe. Thus, the little town is better off because someone in the hometown received it instead of it going to another town.
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PERMISSION TO REPRINT ABOVE WITH ATTRIBUTION
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April 12
THE SEVEN STEPS TO BEING LEADER FOR A YEAR
Because of their business skills and acumen business managers are often in demand to serve on nonprofit boards. Once on the board, it may not be too long for the business leader to be selected to serve as chairperson of the organization. If that person is you and it’s the first time you have been in such a position consider this chronological seven-part guide to making it one of the best years ever for the organization. Whether your organization is local, statewide, or national, these steps, when taken in order, can be the framework for leading your group.
1. Understand leadership – If you take a trip to the nearest bookstore and scan the books on leadership you might want to allow plenty of time. There is no shortage of books on the subject. One wonders how many variations of leadership there can be. John Maxwell, the prolific leadership author, says that influence is the essence of leadership. Peter Drucker, business management expert, and author wrote The Effective Executive over 40 years ago and it has stood the test of time. It has been updated and revised slightly, but the main points are still the same. In it, he said that effective executives do the following:
Manage time
Focus on contributions and results
Build on strengths
Set the right priorities
Make effective decisions
2. Understand Community – A community is a collection of people with a common interest. In your case, the community is your organization and its stakeholders, i.e. those who have an interest in the organization. The common interest is whatever the organization aspires to be or do. That should be found in the organization’s mission statement. The noted Psychiatrist Abraham Maslow pointed out in his “Hierarchy of Needs” that the most basic human emotional need is to belong. Make sure that your organization’s members feel that they belong. Engage them. Communicate with them.
3. Set Personal Goals – Now it’s time to start thinking specifics about your year of leadership. If you could choose any goal for the organization, what would it be? Think ahead to the end of the year. It’s the annual banquet and you are in front of the group giving the summation of what has been accomplished during the year. What would you be saying? What are YOUR goals for the organization? What are the barriers to achieving those goals? Are they consistent with the organization’s goals?
4. Survey the Environment
The first thing a new leader should do is determine what needs to be done. The leader should review the past five years’ minutes and budget. They should also meet with past leaders and other influential members to determine the real issues. This is a good time to pause and review the differences between goals, objectives, and tasks. Although we don’t need to classify everything we will do during the year under these categories, it is useful to understand the distinctions among each. A goal is what you want to achieve. It is the end of the road. It is where you are going. An example of a goal is to raise $20,000 in the coming year. That is what you want to achieve. An objective is a milestone on the road to achieving that goal. So, an objective might be to raise $10,000 from the top 10 large funders. A task is very specific. It is what you need to do. In our example, a task would be to identify the potential largest funders. In other words, tasks are what will be done to achieve objectives.
5. Plan the Year – One of the best ways to do that is to have a strategic planning retreat. The steps in strategic planning are (a) situational analysis, i.e. where are now, (b) visioning, i.e. where we want to go, (c) goal setting, i.e. how we will get there, and (d) implementation. The first three steps are what should be accomplished at the retreat. It may also be a good idea to look ahead three years to set the stage for the future on some matters. One of the best things about having a retreat is that it engages the leadership and others if desired in the process of setting goals. Therefore, there is a sense of ownership of the goals.
6. Implement the Plan – To fully implement the plan, the following skills are needed:
how to communicate
how to run a meeting
how to follow-up
how to hold others accountable
Many organizations operate on the committee system. At board meetings, committee chairpersons report on the activities of their committees and a discussion is held. This is an effective method of follow-up when it works properly. But what about those times when committee chairpersons neglect their duties? The leader must be able to identify what is going on and select the most appropriate method to deal with the situation.
7. Celebrate Success
Celebrating success does two very important things – it gives the organization a chance to look back and to look forward. It therefore sets a standard for the future. Most nonprofit organizations have some form of annual banquet or meeting as a way of celebrating success.
Things to accomplish at a celebration
– Be true to the mission
– Appropriate to the accomplishments;
– recognize the real heroes of the year – think about some ways that an award or awards could be given to those extraordinary people, for example, the President’s Award for Volunteer of the Year. Also, recognize people outside the organization who helped the organization (and not just the money people, but recognize them as well)
– the celebration should set the stage for the coming year
– have a symbolic passing of the gavel – the significance of “passing the gavel”
Looking back on the year – what goals were set at the retreat; what goals were accomplished; what external events affected the organization; and whose lives are better
Here’s wishing you and your organization the best year ever.
April 1, 2024
U-Hail’s latest growth states report just came out. The Top 10 states for growth in 2023 were:
| 1. | TEXAS (1) |
| 2. | FLORIDA (2) |
| 3. | NORTH CAROLINA (4) |
| 4. | SOUTH CAROLINA (3) |
| 5. | TENNESSEE (6) |
| 6. | IDAHO (10) |
| 7. | WASHINGTON (23) |
| 8. | ARIZONA (7) |
| 9. | COLORADO (11) |
| 10. | VIRGINIA (5) |
Click here to check.