Conversations with Jason Ford

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Ford.

Hi Jason, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have always worked in the helping professions. I worked as an Optician for 20 years in various roles and capacities. After 9/11, I joined the Army and became a Combat Medic, where I deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. After the Army I used my GI Bill and got a masters degree in leadership and while I was working at Kennesaw State University, a mentor of mine helped guide me to another masters program in International Policy Management even though I was looking at PhD programs at the time. During that program, I sort of found sustainable development as an area of focus while in Geneva, Switzerland at the United Nations Palace. The shortest way to how I got here is, once my family moved to Hartwell, there was an ad in the paper for a Downtown Development Authority Executive Director. I had no idea what that meant exactly, but I did some research and put my name in the hat. Eight years later, here we are doing sustainable development at the local level.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Well there is no straight line to this place. There are of course the normal life struggles that everyone goes through at different stages in life. Working in local government, every day is different, and so are the challenges. That said, local government tends to be about services, making sure the water comes to the house, the trash gets picked up, the streets are clean with good sidewalks, etc. Lately, I think national politics are creeping down into local government which isn’t great, because the fire trucks have to go to everyone’s house if there is an emergency. Also, everything is expensive. Pipes are expensive, fuel, new police cars cost money, and there are some real cost burdens that create some struggle. That said, communities, small-towns, rural counties and big cities from across Georgia come together to share ideas and help each other along the way. I have gotten to see that firsthand at Georgia Downtown Association, and when you work with people rather than through systems, it always gives you a little extra motivation to keep doing the work.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My official title is Economic and Community Development Director. I work for the City of Hartwell, and I focus on Downtown Development. I am also this year’s President of the Georgia Downtown Association, which is an incredible honor. Our professional world is an interconnected world of municipal operations, small business support, public engagement, historic preservation, and placemaking. There are events, volunteers, and community to design. Downtowns are where people come to shop and eat, but it is also where people come to fellowship, worship, and celebrate. If there is something I specialize in, I would say it is having the capacity to take off one hat and put on the other fluently. Sometimes we have days in this business where you are planning a folklife festival, and somedays you’re working with engineers to redesign the streetscape. Somedays, you are working with volunteers to pick what flowers go in the hanging baskets, and some days you are asking the city council for funds to install a new water feature in town. Since you don’t quite know what the day is going to bring, you have to be nimble and flexible. You have to plan, and you have to be able to react. I would say that’s what I’m best at. I am the proudest of two projects locally that I have worked on recently. One was years in the making and one came together over about six months. Hart County is the only County in Georgia named for a woman, Nancy Hart, and Hartwell is her namesake. She was quite an amazing woman, but Hartwell didn’t have a plaque or a statue in her honor. I found a grant, applied and it was awarded, I designed the statue with input from a few trusted volunteers, and got it installed. Nancy Hart now proudly stands on our square, and it truly was a project of passion to bring that to our community. The other is a Folklife festival we just did in Partnership with Georgia Humanities. Hartwell was called Ah-Yeh-Li A-Lo-Hee by the Cherokee, and that means Center of the World. Fast forward to now, and we are known for our Blues hall, High Cotton Music Hall. We were able to put a festival together that had Indigenous storytelling, Blues and Bluegrass Music, a history lecture, and we made a documentary about a local blues legend. The event was a huge success, and both programs were part of the Arts, placemaking, and storytelling. Those type projects matter the most and are the ones I’m most proud of. Ones that bring the community together.

Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
You have to ask. My mentor and I found each other through a random question. She was a Vice President of a university and a retired General, and I was part-time faculty, and a former Army Sergeant. I asked her if she would speak to my class one day, not really expecting a reply, and not only did she respond, she said yes. I didn’t really know that much about her background, but over time we got to know each other. She would offer advise from time to time, and like I mentioned earlier, she was really the person who inspired me to get the education credentials that led to me being in the line of work I’m in now. It started with asking though. I think part of that is self reflection, and trying to engage people who have strengths in areas where you have opportunities. The relationship needs to go both ways though. The best experiences I’ve had as a mentor is when I am learning as much as I’m sharing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.georgiadowntownassociation.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/georgiadowntownassn/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GeorgiaDowntownAssociation/