Macon | Bibb County: Forward Together

Macon-Bibb County is experiencing a renaissance – in tourism, business, education, housing, you name it. There’s pride for the past, excitement for the future. And yet no one individual or group is angling for credit.

“We sing from the same script,” says Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce President Jessica Walden. “We know what Macon means together.”

The script is simple: Attract visitors who never want to leave.

Macon-Bibb County has established itself as a place to go, with recognition over the past year by Condé Nast Traveler and the New York Times. Gary Wheat, president and CEO of Visit Macon, says his mission now is “fulfilling the promise that we made to the visitor[s] that when they come here, they’re going to see one of the new up-and-coming destinations in the United States, not just the Southeast.”

That means creating new attractions. The highest priority on the Visit Macon agenda could increase the number of visitors exponentially: the nation’s 64th, and Georgia’s first, national park. Efforts to designate the Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park as a full-fledged national park date back to the 1930s, and many people in Macon are confident Congress will finally grant the prehistoric American Indian site the new status this year.

“[Initially,] I don’t think the stars lined up,” says Seth Clark, executive director of the Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative and Macon mayor pro tem. “It took 100 years of people pushing those stars in line, but they’re aligned right now. I fully expect it to pass and be signed by the president [in 2024].”

Passage would have a sizable impact on Macon-Bibb and Middle Georgia. In fact, people have been talking about that impact since 2017 when the National Parks Conservation Association did a study to determine its potential effect on the local economy. The study found the number of annual visitors could jump from 200,000 to 1.3 million in the 15-year period following national park designation, and the park could also bring an additional $207 million annually in economic activity and add 3,000 jobs.

To add perspective, spending from the current 200,000 visitors to Macon-Bibb grew $53 million between 2018 and 2022, representing a $585 tax savings for every county resident. Now add another million park visitors each year.

Currently, Macon has a 25% poverty rate, which is more than double the national rate of 11.5%. And according to Clark, 70% of the people living in poverty in Macon are Black. “The way that we put a dent in that number is through ecotourism and visitation,” he says.

The pending status bump is already attracting visitors – up 40% in 2023 according to Wheat. The increase, he says, is due largely to the niche Passport to Your National Parks community checking out what they hope will soon offer a new stamp for their collection. Through the program, visitors buy the Passport to Your National Parks guidebook and can take it to any national park visitor center or park store to get a free ink stamp with the date and location of their visit.

Also bringing visitors to the city is the world’s largest indoor pickleball facility. The recently opened Rhythm and Rally Sports and Events Center occupies a portion of the Macon Mall, which is being redeveloped. In addition to memberships, classes and camps, the 32-court facility booked five pickleball tournaments before opening.

Nearby is a new 12,000-seat amphitheater set to open on March 24 with a concert by Lynryd Skynryd and ZZ Top. Wheat says he anticipates the amphitheater events will draw overnight visitors, as will tournaments scheduled at the pickleball facility.

“You’re looking at upwards of 800 to 1,000 participants for the bigger tournaments,” says Wheat, “[and] 300 to 500 for some of the regional smaller tournaments, which is still people traveling and visiting our destination who will leave tourism dollars here.”

As for the amphitheater, Wheat says, “a big-time, sold-out concert at the amphitheater will bring in $3 million in economic impact and tourism impact, just for one night.”

The visitor spike creates a new challenge – hotel space. Wheat says county officials have commissioned a study to assess the region’s development needs. So far, they’ve been able to keep up with demand primarily through rehabbing older buildings.

“We have to be prepared to welcome these additional visitors to our community,” he says. “I tell people we need to move dirt, and we’ve been moving dirt, but we need to move more.”

Annual events continue to draw tourists. The 10-day Cherry Blossom Festival saw a 21% increase in tourism dollars, topping $5 million in 2023. And there’s the Christmas Light Extravaganza; the King of Soul Music Festival honoring Otis Redding; Bragg Jam Concert Crawl and the Ocmulgee Indigenous Celebration.

“We call ourselves the festival capital of Georgia,” says Wheat, “because you really can’t turn around without there being a festival of some sort that you can attend.”

Downtown Does the Work

NewTown Macon CEO and President Josh Rogers says events may draw visitors, but “downtown is going to do the work here. If we get the people here, they’re going to fall in love. It feels like it’s … Main Street at Disney World, except real.”

Since 1996, NewTown has helped transform the historic downtown district from near-blight to designation as a 2023 Georgia Exceptional Main Street and a 2024 Great American Main Street Award semifinalist. Rogers says storefront occupancy has hit a record 85%, driven in large part by an innovative and locally focused loan and training program called NewTown Loans, central Georgia’s first and only Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). The program supports real estate developers and entrepreneurs who can’t get traditional financing and provides “coaching, funding and inspirational capital they need to improve properties, grow sustainable businesses and transform neighborhoods,” according to NewTown’s website.

NewTown launched the program in 2012, closing about one deal a month. Now the visionary leaders who run it are closing as many as six real estate and small business deals every month, according to Rogers. All the businesses are locally owned, and 50% are owned by people of color.

“We do loans as small as $2,000 up to $5 million,” says Rogers. “At this point, it’s like a machine. We’ve got a system where people show up, get trained, get money, and then pay us back… It’s just taken on a life of its own.”

Scott Mitchell attempted to secure a traditional loan to finance his dream of owning a New Age gift shop in downtown Macon but was repeatedly rejected, so he turned to NewTown. With a $15,000 loan, Mitchell opened the Bohemian Den in 2018. He says since then, the shop has tripled its space and increased annual sales from $100,000 to $500,000. Late last year, he opened a second business – a dessert and coffee shop named Sweet Eleanor’s. Sales in the first month were 71% higher than forecast, according to Mitchell.

“Macon is truly this little slice of heaven,” he says. “There’s so many people trying to make a difference here. It is like one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever been able to be a part of.”

Everyone agrees the key to Macon’s success has been working together. And behind that is One Macon, a comprehensive community and economic development five-year strategic plan. Once a month, about 40 business and community leaders come together to talk about what they’re working on, what problems they’re encountering and potential solutions. While they may come from different backgrounds and have diverse perspectives, these leaders have a common goal: to do what’s best for Macon.

“We have to look for the common denominators that we all have,” says Macon-Bibb Mayor Lester Miller. “We all want the same thing, and we’re going to continue moving forward together.”

Pitching Macon

Macon’s appeal is also attracting big business. Stephen Adams, executive director of the Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authority (MBCIA), says the county has seen almost $2 billion in private investment since 2017.

“Location is so vital, especially when it comes to industrial recruitment,” says Adams. “Industries are recognizing that you locate where the people are so that you can find a viable workforce.”

Pitching Macon, says Adams, just gets easier and easier.

“We’re talking to companies from around the world who are talking about Macon, and we’ve got something to sell here.”

To attract business, MBCIA needs more inventory of available facilities and land, and Adams says the focus last year was on renovating existing structures, primarily the former Brown & Williamson Tobacco facility, once Macon’s largest employer. Industrial Realty Group purchased the 2 million-square-foot property in 2021 and has created a multitenant option for MBCIA to market. Korean automotive supplier Boogook Industries plans to open there in 2024, creating 80 full time jobs.

“It’s really neat to see that building come back online and add more opportunities,” says Adams.

MBCIA got an additional boost last year with the certification of the 120-acre Airport North Industrial Park as Georgia Ready for Accelerated Development (GRAD). The certification allows businesses to hit the ground running, saving them time and money.

In late 2023, BrightFarms, a company in the indoor farming industry, broke ground at the Airport East Industrial Park on a campus that will feature 1.8 million square feet of commercial greenhouse buildings and employ over 250 people. BrightFarms, which uses hydroponic farming methods, is scheduled to open in 2024 and will provide 2 million pounds of fresh, local, pesticide-free greens to grocery stores in Georgia and nearby states.

The abundant supply of quality water contributed to BrightFarm’s decision to locate in Macon. The Javors J. Lucas Lake holds 5.8 million gallons of water, providing a 90- to 120-day supply. Last year, the water was named the best-tasting drinking water in Georgia by the American Water Works Association.

Ron Shipman, executive director and president of the Macon Water Authority, says BrightFarms ran its own water quality tests and declared the Macon water the best it has seen.

“That’s another reason to pound our chest, at least from an economic development standpoint,” Shipman says.

Late last year, MBCIA and county officials announced yet another visitor draw: plans for a new terminal at the Middle Georgia Regional Airport. The terminal will be in the shape of a guitar, paying homage to the city’s musical history, and will include a second-floor restaurant and event space.

In late 2023, HighNote Aviation became the new fixed-base operator (an organization that has the right to operate at an airport and provide various aeronautical services). It will now provide services such as fueling, hangaring and ground transportation. Construction on the long-anticipated runway extension began early last year and will allow the addition of commercial airline traffic, as well as creating more jobs.

Building A Workforce

Business leaders in Macon-Bibb are keenly aware of the need to create a workforce prepared for the opportunities coming to the county.

“You can recruit all you want, but if you don’t have the workforce for it, you can’t sustain it,” says the chamber’s Walden.

The chamber dove into the workforce development arena in 2022. It created Greater Career Works, a digital platform to assist employers with hiring and help job seekers explore careers and find openings. The site registered 13,000 users over the past year. The chamber also developed Future Workforce Fridays, a program livestreamed every other Friday into middle and high school classrooms and designed to make kids aware of job possibilities. Neighboring Twiggs County signed onto the program in 2023.

“A lot of times kids don’t know of the companies that are in their backyard,” says Cassandra Washington, executive director of career, technical and agriculture education for Bibb County schools. But Washington quickly realized they weren’t reaching a key cohort – counselors.

With a $15,000 grant, Washington recently launched Educators Are Community Developers Too, or CD2 for short. Counselors meet once a month for seven months, hear from industry leaders, visit local industries and complete awareness-building assignments, including driving through the local industrial parks to see what’s there. Washington hopes through the various programs the school system will touch at least 2,500 students a year and increase the number of local people going into community industries.

A Livable Macon

Mayor Miller knows that attracting – and keeping – residents requires tackling crime and blight. His Blight Fight program has removed 615 blighted structures in the past 2.5 years. Now, he says, it’s time to get “hot and heavy” on infilling the vacant lots. The city has created an affordable housing fund of $7.5 million and is raising money to double that. The fund will offer gap financing and low-interest loans to rebuild houses as well as create transition housing for homeless people.

Miller has also created a standalone code enforcement department and beefed up staffing to prevent future blight.

“The best part about it is we get people’s attention now that we’re going to do this job,” Miller says, “and many of them are already starting to improve their own properties.”

Miller has launched a creative, holistic and community-driven crime abatement effort with 32 local partners that’s led to a 46% decrease in homicides and a 12% decrease in violent crime. The effort involves community gardens and sports programs as well as forcing the 11 p.m. closing of markets not offering fresh food. The county has also taken legal action to shut down several so-called “vice marts” – generic stores that sell junk food, tobacco and lottery tickets – and has seen a 68% crime reduction in those areas.

“Macon is about to soar to new heights,” says Miller. “We want to make sure we make a great first impression.”

 

 

Local Flavor

Reaching for the Stars

A LUCKY FEW MERCER UNIVERSITY STUDENTS have just reviewed the setup for an upcoming eight-hour recording session with country singer-songwriters Brent Cobb and Adam Hood. Their next assignment: creating a five-instrument music track from a single microphone at a recording console in a room considered the birthplace of Southern rock – Studio A at Mercer Music at Capricorn in downtown Macon.

“This is one of the world’s most iconic recording studios,” says Rob Evans, chief engineer at Capricorn, where Studio A was the music home of the legendary Allman Brothers Band, the Marshall Tucker Band, the Charlie Daniels Band, Wet Willie and Elvin Bishop. In the 1970s, these musicians blended blues, soul, rockabilly and country into a new musical genre – Southern rock.

“There’s not another university except for Belmont in Nashville that has access to a studio like this,” says Evans, who’s teaching the music technology class.

Mercer University offers the class in the spring semester of even years.“I’m teaching the kids how to record,” Evans says. “I’m teaching them the basic physics behind sound, the signal chain. They’re getting to not only learn how to use software, but they’re using hardware that many people don’t have access to at home. It’s an immersive thing, and every day is different.”

Studios A and B are just one part of Mercer Music at Capricorn, a renovated 20,000-square-foot multi-purpose music venue that brings together the city’s musical past, present and future. The four-building complex opened in late 2019 and includes a music incubator, a museum, and office and meetings spaces.

“Our philosophy is leveraging our past to create a new future for musicians,” says Evans. “We see this facility as an educational facility as well as a working studio. But it’s now a classroom as well.”

Junior psychology major Cian Trinidad was scrolling through music class choices with his advisor and saw “Capricorn Studios” flash by.

“You have to scroll back,” Trinidad told his advisor. “That’s taught at Studio A. That’s the one I want.”

“All the things we’ve learned, [are things] you need access to a professional music studio to learn,” he says. “It really feels good to have a class here.”

Larry Brumley, Mercer’s senior vice president for marketing communications and chief of staff, says when Mercer acquired the buildings in 2015, they found Studio A “like they had just walked out of it in 1979.” They added the custom-built soundboard to mimic the one used during Capricorn’s heyday. Brumley says Capricorn alumni have told him the restored studio looks, sounds and even smells like it did in the ’70s.

In November, Grammy.com named Studio A one of “10 of the most exciting recording studio tours [in the U.S.].”

“I’m grateful to have the access to be here,” says Trinidad. “I’m just having fun learning.”