Better Together with Kosta Yepifantsev

Perfect Timing with Randy Heady

May 01, 2023 Kosta Yepifantsev Season 2 Episode 67
Better Together with Kosta Yepifantsev
Perfect Timing with Randy Heady
Show Notes Transcript

Join Kosta and his guest: Randy Heady, Jackson County Mayor, Upper Cumberland Development District Chairman, and Head Pastor of New Hope Baptist Church.

In this episode: Exploring how Jackson County's local electors are working to revitalize its downtown and attract new businesses and what initiatives are currently in place to support this growth and expansion.  Tourism growth in Granville and Gainesboro, and how the success of Wildwood Resort and the revitalization of downtown Gainesboro impacted Jackson County. The biggest challenge and opportunity facing Jackson County today from Mayor Randy Heady's perspective.

Better Together with Kosta Yepifantsev is a product of Morgan Franklin Media and recorded in Cookeville, TN.

Find Out More About Jackson County:
https://www.jacksoncotn.com/index.php|

Find out more about Kosta and all the ways we're better together:
http://kostayepifantsev.com/

Randy Heady:

Support locally. I've never seen a more of an effort in my community in the last 30 years about support locally, people want to support the hometown in the community because they know that if they don't, it'll die again. And we don't want to see that happen twice. And so I'm trying to manage how, how we do that. That's the thing I'm seeing moving forward.

Morgan Franklin:

Welcome to Better Together with Kosta Yepifantsev, a podcast on parenting business and living life intentionally. We're here every week to bring you thoughtful conversation, making your own path to success, challenging the status quo, and finding all the ways we're better together. Here's your host, Kosta Yepifantsev.

Kosta Yepifantsev:

Hey, y'all, this is Kosta and today I'm here with my guest, Randy Heady Jackson County Mayor UCDD, Chairman and head pastor of New Hope Baptist Church. Mayor heavy thank you for joining us today. Will you share a bit about your personal journey? And what led you to become the mayor of Jackson County? Well,

Randy Heady:

thank you first for having me. I appreciate being on here. My first podcast kind of excited, I love it. Hope ain't too nervous, right?

Kosta Yepifantsev:

You're doing great.

Randy Heady:

You know, it's kind of weird how I ended up where I am today. I think that you know, there's a path for you. And that path changes based on decisions you make, right. And so I spent a whole lot of time early in my life, being married, raising kids. And that was the size of it right in doing the things you wanted to do. And then as I got older, I found myself complaining a whole lot about local politics. And I will never forget my like Pastor, former pastor basically passed in, he looked at me one day, and I was complaining about my property taxes going up and how it's in he said, Will you need to run for commissioner or something, you know, quit complaining to me about Sri Costa, so that planted a seed. And I'm like, good idea. And so we ended up running for Commissioner. It was evident to me within three years that we needed leadership. And I'm a firm believer, you know, Darren COVID, I was at a meeting where I said, you know, young leadership matters. It does, right. And we just didn't have leadership, good people doing exactly what they thought they ought to be doing. doing the best they could, but leadership really matters. Yeah. So anyways, I'm like, well, we need leadership. And maybe I'm the person maybe I'm not that I spent another four years being a commissioner, I ran a second term in the course, my commission came and said, hey, we'd love for you to be the chairman of the commission. heard of in my community? Right. Myers always a chairman, which I'm the chairman now, right. But I thought, well, that's a sign. And I spent four years really learning and decided I wanted to run, I was back and forth on that. I had been called to be pastor, by the time that term was up, and I really debated on is this what I want to do. And I had really good leadership in the county that came to me and said, hey, you need to run. Why next up? Well, you're the best possible candidate we got. So you can take that for what it's worth.

Kosta Yepifantsev:

I mean, at the end of the day, like, you know, you were star quarterback in high school. Right? And, you know, you had obviously you were born in Gainsborough in Jackson County, you know, you raised there, you've lived there your entire life, and you've always maintained some kind of a leadership position. So the fact that you're mayor now is honestly not much of a surprise to me. And obviously, the journey has been quite long. What was your campaign experience? Like? Was that weird, like campaigning in be to be a politician, elected official?

Randy Heady:

So the first one was exciting, okay. Or so I was hungry. I didn't have no bridges burn. I mean, you know what I'm saying, I'm out there begging for boats, you know, and I had all these great ideas, and I'm stomping it every chance I got, and it was exciting. So it was a great experience. This lifetime, not so much. You have so much to lose. So you've got four years of your life. And as a county mayor, every county mayor will can relate to this. Even best at everything that you are into that four years or so I did. I can't speak for everybody. But most of my mayor buddies do the same thing. Sure. And so you got so much to lose. The pressure is so intense. It ain't about your job. I mean, I know it is. But I'm found a job. I'm worried about work. I'm worried about what I'm going to lose. Well, what

Kosta Yepifantsev:

you've built. That's exactly right. I mean, and one thing you can't replace in this world is time. That is

Randy Heady:

correct. And then in your teammates, because it's so cost that formed a team. Yeah, right out of the gate to help me. First thing you got to do is you can't have five people 10 People saying 10 different things. Everybody needs to be on the same page. Right? And so I built this team. Well, I want I found that my team, they're affected by me, right? Not being mayor. And so then they're concerned, you know, and I see the stress on their face and then even running for mayor, but they're worried about what if the mayor gets beat? What's it going to do to the dynamic of what we've been building for four years or two years or three years, whatever it might be. So it was very different. I wouldn't take nothing for what I'm doing. I love my job. I feel like this is what I'm called to do. So it's been a blessing. You mentioned the leadership thing I'll never forget, many years ago, I was paid to be jury duty. And so I showed up for this murder trial. From the get go, you got your defense and your prosecutor and they're talking to the jury, potential jury. All right. So everybody's sitting in their seats, and they're, they're given their opening statements about picking a jury. And I'll never forget the defense attorney who had been my coach when I was in seventh grade football. He was the one who said, can anybody there's a man who had to hand the ball off. And my uncle had showed me how to hand the ball off, and I wanted to be a running back. So he showed me how to receive the football, right? And then the process, I was hitting the ball. So I'm like, Yeah, I knew, you know. And so as we're gonna start, well, he opens up by saying, what we don't want to own the jury is a leader. Now, Randy, Haiti, I coached you in football, and you were a high school quarterback, right and lead your team to the playoffs? Yes. He says, You're the very person that we do not want the jury because you are a leader. And we don't want to later now this is way before becoming mayor, right? So it backs up what you said earlier, you got tagged with it early on in life. And just as soon as I pulled my name out, he's like, you don't need to get a

Kosta Yepifantsev:

we're not gonna pick you.

Randy Heady:

And I was dismissed, you know, and I was like, Okay, I have

Kosta Yepifantsev:

one more question. And then we're gonna get into it. What's it like being UCD? Chairman,

Randy Heady:

two years ago, they came and asked me if I would be willing to be UCPD, chair and ECHR. A chair. I thought you're both Exactly. Okay. And I said, Sure, I'll do it. And I don't mind it. It's very flattering. They really, they, they lock out chair, get through meetings, let people also at the same time have a right to an opportunity to speak. I think that this makes my third year. So they asked me stay on again. So I'm in my third year of being the chair of those executive boards. I enjoy it. I'm highly involved in everything that goes on. But it also takes a lot of your time. Yesterday as up here, you know, there were some areas that had some conflicts. So you have to be willing to dedicate your time. I've thoroughly enjoyed this Empower upper Cumberland that we're launching. And you've heard about that. And I know that you've been a part of a little bit of that, especially with the training center. I have been in this process from day one, because of being the chair they've had me involved from day one,

Kosta Yepifantsev:

the optimistic. Yeah.

Randy Heady:

So I think it's going to work. And now I know it's going to work. That's great. It has to I said yesterday, Megan gave an update to the executive board about where we were in, you know, I had a few comments to add in at the end that I thought were important. Just because you don't qualify doesn't mean we kick you to the curb, we're still going to take you that person that doesn't qualify and hand them off to someone who can help them in hopefully try to get them qualified in the future, you know, so that's the whole goal. But it cannot be feasible that it doesn't succeed, because it has to it has to these are the livelihoods of children and families that we're talking about. And if we really mean what we say we want to improve or elevate the quality of life for our people. That's what we're doing here. So it has to work. The economic

Kosta Yepifantsev:

underpinnings depend on the success of Empower, you see, our economy can't function in the capacity that it is right now. Because there's just not enough people in the workforce. That is correct.

Randy Heady:

Yeah. One of the scariest things about being mayor, you recruiting new jobs, right? Where are you gonna get the workforce from?

Kosta Yepifantsev:

Right. So on that note is Jackson County works to revitalize its downtown and attract new businesses? What initiatives are currently in place to support this growth and expansion?

Randy Heady:

Awesome question. I'm not sure I have an answer for it. And I'm being perfectly honest. And I hope I can be. I'm sure that there are a lot of people who have answers for everything, but all we can do is lay the foundation. So we have a really good chamber, you know, we have a first time ever we've got a paid chamber person, I think there was another time they got a grant for a couple years. And then when they run out the job room well, but we fund that position. Now the county does, you know, trying to put the pieces in place. And we're building a good chamber, in that you got to help those businesses. And one way you can do it, we will all job applications, if you can go to the chamber and use the chamber website to post jobs. And we want you to be able to do that. If you put application into the chamber for any job openings, I can send that to everybody that's wanting a job so that you don't have to go to 15 different places and put application you do in one place. And that information goes to everybody. So that's something we're doing. Clay County did that that looked like something that we could go and hey, do you mind us, you know, taking one You've been dedicating exactly replicating in our community in. So we did that we're trying to do everything we can to get them state funding. If you open a new business, we're going to try to get you if you open, you know, the state ECD gives you so much money for training, if you say that you'll hire X amount of people. So just trying to make sure that they have all those tools and resources to better elevate their business as I get started and move forward and trying to make sure the infrastructure is there. Well, it's

Kosta Yepifantsev:

the first two years of every business, you know, the really the first year of every business is so difficult. And it's not just Jackson County, it's really everywhere across the United States is if you don't have support within that first year, then most businesses fail within the first 10 months is that the statistical average. And I think that from the perspective of your position, and the position of the state, this region, especially uch era, I mean, everybody is trying to provide just a little bit more help for people who want to be entrepreneurs. And they need you know, there's nobody that in my knowledge that's going out and getting millions of dollars in venture capital money to open up a coffee shop in the middle of the square, right. And so that money is going to have to come from government programs, state government programs that is, and I think it's great that you guys are taking advantage of that. That's that's phenomenal. So Mayor Hedy, how do you balance the needs of current local businesses while simultaneously building the foundation for new industries and development?

Randy Heady:

Very difficult. All right. So how do I continue to help you while I'm trying to bring in someone maybe is competing for your workforce. And that's a struggle. I was at a one of our local manufacturing companies just a couple of weeks ago, and they're having trouble. They're one of the better paying companies, and so they've not had any trouble recruiting employees. Well, guess what, where everybody around them is elevated their pay to get people now they're struggling to get employees. And so it's trying to help them with the resources that to tap in the other places. I had visited another manufacturing facility, maybe six weeks, six or eight weeks ago. And they told me that they were tapping into a county next to him, they had found a way to tap into the Macon County red bowling area. Yeah. Which way bowling is 25 minute drive, right. 20. And so they had found an opportunity to tap into that workforce, because they had people out there that weren't employed. And I said, Well, let me give you a tidbit of what your neighbors doing. We looked for ways to try to balance that. Also, I want them to know that we're looking to possibly bringing in other industry, so I'm for warning them ahead of time. And maybe that's not the right word.

Kosta Yepifantsev:

No, I think I think it's necessary, though. I mean, I think that, you know, a rising tide lifts all boats. That's correct. You know, and it's, it's, there's growing pains, obviously, because some industries take a little bit longer to adapt or change. But you know, how the saying goes, if you don't adapt, then yeah, that's correct. So, you know, Brave New World. I want to talk about current economic trends, specifically, the tourism growth in Granville and Gainsborough. How has the success of Wildwood resort and the revitalization of downtown Gainsborough impacted Jackson County?

Randy Heady:

Tremendously. Okay. So sales tax is off the charts. Yeah. For us, you know, point of origin sales tax law that past Tennessee State legislature said a couple of years ago three now really helped us but just Wildwood in downtown Gainsborough? The revitalization and growth it being a foodie destination, right? It is. It's crazy it really. So when we talk about that down home will be some more and we'll talk about a foodie destination. Mark Denny, a good friend of mine, I grew up just right down the road from him. He is the district's historian. But Mark says every time I talk about Gainsborough, Jax, Kenny is a foodie. He said I this blows my mind because that's not who we are, or have been, right. It is who we are. But it's completely changed the complete dynamic. And if you look at all the revenue that's coming from them, I mean, Wildwood alone has really raised the bar. That's how we fund the chamber. The hotel motel tax occupancy,

Kosta Yepifantsev:

which they asked for, right, they did.

Randy Heady:

The perfect timing. When I became Mayor John and Natasha Dean had just bought Wildwood resort and Marina. It was Granville Marina at that time, and they had a vision. Well, I come into office, and he's deemed me the Progressive Conservative, which I'll take that all day long. So he comes in and I come in together and we both have a vision. You know, in tourism. I've got all these ideas I mentioned earlier, you know, and I'm all excited and I find out that most of these ideas take years to develop. But the one thing that I find that we're not capitalizing on this low hanging fruit is tourism. It's right there are you gonna do go out to the apple tree and pick it in. So, you know, I teamed up with John and helped John in every way I could. He goes out and invest in Granville, Jackson County and develops Wildwood resort and Marina, they start bringing in this occupancy tax. And you know, I went to him and I said, Look, I'm looking at passing occupancy tax, and I want you to know it's coming. Because I'd had a little bit of a wish you wouldn't do that. And he said, Oh, I think that's awesome. That's more revenue for you. Right? Yeah, it's more, you know, he's one of those people that are special, you just got to know that. Most people complain when I told him, I picked up the phone one day, and I said, Hey, I hate to make this phone call. But the property assessor of Jackson County, in the state person that hails from personal property, or fixed to come to your place, and I'm gonna forewarn you that they're going to be assessed and all this investment that you did for personal property taxes and leases, but you get all that and I said, I do. And he said, Awesome. Bring him over. That's not normal response. So John, most people are like, No, yeah, Mayor, I hate you. I won't let him in. Exactly. But not only does he invite him over, he opens up the drawers and says, Hey, this is what we've done. Let me go show you the rooms. So anyways, this came together at the same time at the right time with John coming in. And actually, everybody, every team member Jordan, Jordan Hunter, who was a volunteer chamber director, was elected that December to be the new chamber director in 2018. Nice right after my election. And then you had Christy Brown was Joe Barlow was a former director of schools who was awesome. But Christie was the new one and got elected. I mean, got hard. In November of the same year, you had a bunch of people that wanted to see growth. And so all of us came together at the same time, and we were able to elevate these things right and make a huge difference in our community. Absolutely. Granville has been substantial and new when you see Granville doing what it's doing and Wildwood resort Marina that's going to inspire people in local downtown Gainsborough

Kosta Yepifantsev:

think it is. I mean, I think the bowling thistle is a good is a good example of an extension of how the stolen coin was created. That's I mean, when I first moved to Cookeville, and 2012. And I think the bowling thistle may have opened around the same time. And when we went to eat there, and I was like, hold up now where we at. And you have this essentially a fine dining experience that's astounding, in Gainsborough. And I always was wondering, like, how do they have the financial means to support this, but they really have turned Gainsborough into a destination and all the businesses and we you and I had lunch a couple of weeks back when I was there driving around and seeing all of the businesses that have been open just in the last maybe three years, four years, the ball is rolling. Like there's no stopping it. And I think that's great. Yeah,

Randy Heady:

it is in we should give a shout out to the late Louisa Street in Diana Manley, who developed bowling thistle and made it what it is today. They had the vision for the rest of us did 2012 in in late 2017. They shut the doors because they were having a hard time making a profit because everything was it was on their shoulders, right? So they shut the doors and then 2018 When John and Natasha and Wildwood comes into play in 2019. And you see this energy that's happening? Of course, Diana gets that itch. I want to do it again. Right, you know, and it was funny, I'd go to Diane and she said, I'm thinking about it. It's looking good. And then I'd go to Louie and Louis law, I don't think we're going to do it. Lo and behold, in November 2018, they reopen their doors. And I want you to indeed just think about the feeding that's come off of that. And then the new businesses you mentioned that are popping up around the square, you know, we've had a stellar year for us. And then we've got more coming things that are going to be happening in the next six months 1234 You know, that are going to be happening soon. And very soon, just in downtown Gainsborough. In the statement. I had a hard time by buying me and when I first came in, everybody said rising tide floats all boats, you say as a new mayor beating his head against the wall. It's the truth, right? It is the truth. All you gotta do is get the momentum going. And it seems like everybody jumps on board. Next thing you know, everything's been lifted up so

Kosta Yepifantsev:

they have a good leader when they do. So moving on. Jackson County is known for being one of Tennessee's most abundant counties for outdoor exploration and natural resources. What are a few of your favorite spots to visit in the area and how do you see these assets contributing to the overall quality of life?

Randy Heady:

Man? That's an awesome question. That is a correct statement. Not one of my favorite places is the bowls. If you've never been to the bowls, it's one of my favorite places to go. The reason is, it's just a really serene area. And even if there's a bunch of people there swimming in the river Rhone River It's a creek, but it's Rhone River. You walk out on the gravel bar and you just walk out in the water and you can take a swim and it's nice and cool. It's not hot. It's not a swimming pool I live in you can stand there and watch the water actually bowl out of the ground, right? That's where it's fed, and it never stops. It's always bowling out. It's called the bulls. It's Tennessee Wildlife Management. So that's one of my most favorites. will grab a pair me and the wife when the grandkids come in, in the summer, guess what? We take them? Yeah, because they can go out there and play in the water pick up rocks, you know, you can teach him to skip a rock across the water. There's nothing better than getting a boat getting on a boat and getting on the river and just floating down the river. To me that's fun. Because it's quiet and it's peaceful. And you know, something a lot of people don't know is Jackson County has a pretty good bald eagle community down there in especially in the Granville area, but they're all up and down the Cumberland River in Jackson County. It's nothing unusual beyond a boat sitting on the water. It's a bald eagle. Amazing, nothing unusual.

Kosta Yepifantsev:

The traffic isn't super heavy and so it's got some pretty great routes to ride your bike when it comes to cycling like Jackson County is pretty much on every cyclist route because it's got great climbs you can go from Jackson County to over 10 You pick up a little bit of clay I think but man I tell you what some of those climbs are just if you want to do Hill work on your bike you go to Jackson County because that's all you got is Hills

Randy Heady:

it's amazing me people love the back. Blackburn fork.

Kosta Yepifantsev:

Oh yeah,

Randy Heady:

absolutely are sockless

Kosta Yepifantsev:

Yeah, I am. I did the ride to the sky so I don't do Jackson County on my ride. I actually go the opposite direction. I do Monterey Sparta and then Cookeville like a 50 miler and go down like half color highway. But when I did the ride to the sky, the 100 mile ride, we went through Jackson County. Man, that ride kicked my butt. All right, technology moves progress in our daily lives. With Jackson County being a broadband ready community. How do you envision technology playing a role in The County's economic development in the future?

Randy Heady:

We are broadband ready community, we are good community fiber to any home that wants it in a rural county like Jackson, which is amazing to me because Benton County still trying to get broadband right in certain areas. I think there's less than 100 homes that don't have fiber, because you have to call on a you know, the fibers that are at the road, you got to call and ask. You know, they can't just run fiber to your house. It's really made a huge difference. I'm gonna tell you, we're seeing a lot of people move into the county, which is good and bad, right? But people are moving here, especially work from home people. And they're doing it because they can live up in a holler. And we call them hollers down there.

Kosta Yepifantsev:

What is a holler? Holler? Holler is a hollow, like a ravine.

Randy Heady:

Yeah, you drive up Creek Road, okay. And there's heels on both sides, okay. And it's important the road ends,

Kosta Yepifantsev:

okay. And there's a house, there's a house there, and that's the holler. That's the holler hot. No.

Randy Heady:

So people want to move to those areas, because they can see the deer out the front door, or out the back door out their office door. And they're doing their work on their computer, because they have fiber in the middle of what a lot of people think is in the middle of nowhere. And they can have high speed internet, and it doesn't call services. Me and Jonathan West, Jonathan West is director of Twin Lakes till telephone coop, me and Jonathan to talk about how do we capture that. So they can look and see so many people that work for a business, like if they work for cost and cost is paying for the phone building? They know from the business name, that they're working from home? What type of companies? There's a whole bunch of Amazon workers in the county nice Wayfair isn't that amazing? And in you can capture those. But what about the ones you can't catch, right? So a whole bunch of people work from home that they pay their own internet, and that's part of their contract, they get extra money to pay for it, but you can't go out and find that. So we're been trying to figure out how we can legally that's something he's working on because I really want to capture that I want to be able to promote that in my community, because we're not capturing that workforce. We don't know what that true number is. Because you can market to them. That's exactly right. I want to market to them. I want to market it outside of the county as we're trying to develop workforce, especially if you've got a one of the spouses works from home, but the other one maybe has a$20 an hour job or $22 an hour job maybe where they're at that make 30 But when they moved to Jackson County cost of living is a whole lot less and they can work for $20 an hour that person works from home is the biggest breadwinner then the other spouse can go to work right so I can recruit that home. They don't have to live in Nashville, Tennessee or Mount Juliet. They live in Jackson County. And it's amazing. Give me a distant aspect of what broadband is done. There's at least 12 people 12 to 15 people I know Personally, that worked for the state of Tennessee that since the pandemic, you have the states loosened up and said you work three days from home and two weeks in office. Guess where they've relocated? Jackson County? Wow. Because we've got fiber. And so they bought homes moved out in Nashville. And they're working from home and they're driving to Nashville one two days a week. That's doable. Yeah.

Kosta Yepifantsev:

What do you see as the biggest challenge, but more importantly, the biggest opportunity facing Jackson County today?

Randy Heady:

The biggest thing is the tax base. So we're limited how much we can expand as a county because of the heels. Okay, and the hollers okay,

Kosta Yepifantsev:

yes hills and hollers. Got it.

Randy Heady:

So a river runs through the middle of the county. Okay, right through the heart of it is Cumberland River, which I wouldn't take nothing for the river. And then you have the topography of our county really limits us to expansion. For instance, industry, why is industry so important to a community? Well, it brings jobs, okay. But more importantly, in that it brings a good tax base, with the jobs, it brings a tax base, but with the infrastructure, it brings a tax base, so that buildings were so much money, you get to charge property tax on that, and that helps the tax base. For me, the biggest challenge for me is how do we continue to build the tax base with limited resources. And so we're doing it through things like occupancy tax through things like support locally, I've never seen a more of an effort in my community in the last 30 years about support locally, people want to support the hometown in the community, because they know that if they don't, it'll die again. Right. And we don't want to see that happen twice. And so I'm trying to manage how how we do that. That's the thing I'm seeing moving forward, I guess

Kosta Yepifantsev:

factories need like a like a flat land. Yes. Right. Okay. So is advanced manufacturing out of the picture?

Randy Heady:

No, it's not, for instance, portabella. Yeah, which Baxter landed in Putnam County, which is a huge thing for everybody that helps me to, of course, 70% of my workforce goes out of the county for jobs. And that number may be more like 67 66%. Now, because we've had so many jobs created locally, but it's still a huge number that are going out. And so portabella does nothing but help me, especially if it's a good paying job, it helps my community. So you have to have a certain amount of industrial property. And that's a commodity. And when you do find that 100 acre tract of land, I thought it would be easy to talk the landowner into selling that to us because it helps the community what do you find out? They don't have the same passion as you do? They have a different passion, right? Well, that's been in my family for 120 years, or No, I don't I don't want to sell because I don't need to sell. And I understand that I'm not talking bad about that. Because I don't know that out. If I was in that position. I wouldn't be the same way. But not everybody's me. Not everybody's Randy, Haiti who's been raised in Jackson County never lived anywhere else went to the school system. There was a sharecropper, son, not everybody's me. Right. And I have to understand that and understand that they have were looking at so it's really hard to come up with that piece of property. Also cost it if I felt the 100 acre track. Would it have sewer, water, gas and electricity? Right. Okay, I've got the broadband. But will I have the other pieces that make up the pie to put the pie together?

Kosta Yepifantsev:

What about a Walmart, a Walmart would make a huge deal. That's what I'm saying. I mean, one like retail, if you can't do if you can't do economic expansion in that capacity, maybe some type of retail endeavor. But here's the question that I asked every single government official that comes on the show. If you could bring any business or specific industry to Jackson County, what would it be?

Randy Heady:

The one thing that we've been wanting is another type of food the restaurant, okay, so I don't need another seafood restaurant. I'm knocking it out of the ballpark. You aren't I don't need another steak restaurant because I'm knocking it out of the ballpark. Right. So Watson, the other foodie that I could bring, but that's small scale, but it's true. If I can bring one business to Jackson County be it'd be a good chain grocery store with fresh produce, like a Kroger Yes. Yeah. A Kroger,

Kosta Yepifantsev:

Publix.

Randy Heady:

Publix, you know, is a little big for us. I understand that. But a small Kroger's. You know, we tried our best to lamb Food City, but we wouldn't in the hunt and know that we were competing with people who had a much bigger population to do that. The thing is, we really tried to recruit that one that would bring a huge tax base, right? But I'm going to be saying For what I got, so the deans are opening, Miss Sally's market, which is huge. It's four or five months away, maybe six, but I'm trying to talk her into doing it early, fresh produce fresh produce. They're also wanting to partner with other businesses that are local to carry their stuff. And she's going to have a salad bar in there. I hope she talked about this, and I'm not stepping on her feet any. But also, she's also contacted the local butcher, who is USDA approved right about carrying some of his meats in there, which I think would be huge. In look, while I look for that one thing that would change us all these little things are doing that the deans have took a business, let me say a building, which had been in a family for almost 100 years. And it needed a lot of work and of course, the infrastructure that they're doing to hit and completely changing it and remodeling it. Well guess what that's gonna do that's gonna elevate the value of that which increases the tax base, right? So these little things matter, the bowling thistle and some of the other businesses that we've had to come into the community and they're fixing these buildings up and you know, that's helping the tax base. I

Kosta Yepifantsev:

mean, downtown Franklin, they literally did the exact same roadmap, and they are a destination. They are a foodie destination. There aren't any massive factories in Franklin right? There's there's retail stores, there's car dealerships, you know, those types of things. But really what they did was they took a lot of small ventures and they put them together, and they have the festival, right? So they turned it into a destination. And now people from all across the world go to Franklin to check it out. And I mean, I don't see why Gainsborough can't be the same. Because I'll tell you, like I said, I've lived here since 2012. And you guys are the only place in the entire upper Cumberland that has the stolen coin which offers fresh oysters and true Creole food. It's fantastic. The Bolin thistle is a wonderful restaurant that has great steaks. And every time I come back to Gainsborough, there's new businesses, which means people are engaged. So whether they're engaged from people from the outside moving in and saying you can do this, or people from the inside are saying we need to do this. I think you have the perfect storm.

Randy Heady:

Well, I appreciate that. And I think so too. And to answer the grocery store question in a little bit different twist, people we have been trying and trying and trying to recruit that grocery store, right, Piggly Wiggly, and I'm appreciative of save a lot. Okay, but now what I'm telling people is Alright, so we've, we've been down that road, we don't hit the demographic, you can have a save a lot and have a food line, it's not gonna happen. So when Miss Ali's opens up, your complaint is you don't have fresh produce, and you don't have fresh meats and you don't have all right, support the store. Absolutely. That's what you need to do right there making it happen. They heard your outcry personally, we're doing everything we can to help them, you know, support them in every way we can with this new business. And what we need you to do is support them. And I think the community will I said earlier, I've never seen community buy in for supporting us each other as I've seen here lately. So great things.

Kosta Yepifantsev:

So we always like to end the show on a high note, who is someone that makes you better when you're together?

Randy Heady:

Okay, so I've thought about this quite a bit. All right. And I'm gonna do a cliche because I have to, because it's the truth is my wife, okay. My wife makes me better in everything that I do. When she's in my presence. Or when she's standing over in the corner, and I'm doing my mayor thing. I'm always elevated because she's there. You know, she is flesh of my flesh. We are one and I couldn't do this without her. So I'd be remiss not to do that. I know that's probably mushy and cliche, but it is absolutely the truth. And I'd be wrong not to do that. Now there are other people. And I'm going to mention them if I can, who absolutely elevate me when they're there. John Dean is one of those people, John and Natasha, they elevate me when I'm in their presence. My game has to go up and I appreciate that in him being there alone as a supporter, and he is a huge supporter of what I'm trying to get done. early on. It was Jordan Hunter. Jordan, went with me everywhere. He told everybody went with me so that he can make sure he kept me in check. He made sure I didn't have nothing on my jacket. If I was at the Capitol. When I got a little too excited. He would calm me down. So he'd elevate me now it's hope. Hope so chamber director, we go to many meetings together. Jordan gave her specific orders. Make sure you don't have that known his shirt. If he just gets food on it, wash it off. You gotta have those people in your life. Right? My director of schools, I'm naming everybody that's a part of Team Jackson. county maaske, Director of schools, Christy brown doesn't matter to me if we're sitting in a conference or we're at a meeting or for sitting around a desk and strategizing and talking about how can we improve education for K 12 in Jackson County, and above that, which is out of her scope, but she is she has a heart for education, that she goes above k 12. Right. And so when we're together, and we're doing this, it elevates who I am, it makes me a better mayor. Because I'm having to think outside my comfort zone. I'm getting outside the box, right? When you're with any of these people that I've mentioned, you're having to elevate who you are, because they're thinking outside the box. It takes everybody to make this work. You bring all these people together because everybody don't have the same ideas or the same vision. And if we did, it'd be kind of boring, right? And if we were all dependent on Randy, nothing had happened. My biggest job 90% of the time has been the cheerleader. I can't worry about what stopped me today. I just want to get out there that's what I want to happen. So how do I make that happen? I've got a bunch of people that are instrumental in who I am today and I think every one of them appreciate my Lord for giving me this opportunity and for put bringing those people in my life. If he didn't put the people around me I wouldn't be successful. There's no way that if these people wouldn't there I couldn't be who I am today.

Morgan Franklin:

Thank you for joining us on this episode of Better Together with Kosta Yepifantsev. If you've enjoyed listening and you want to hear more, make sure you subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. Leave us a review or better yet, share this episode with a friend. Better Together with Kosta Yepifantsev is a Kosta Yepifantsev Production. Today's episode was written and produced by Morgan Franklin post production mixing and editing by Mike Franklin. Want to know more about Kosta visit us at kostayepifantsev.com We're better together.