Albany-Dougherty EDC looks to phase 2 of community marketing campaign

ALBANY — As they bask in the embers of the afterglow from their award-winning “There’s Only One Albany” marketing campaign, members of the Albany-Dougherty Economic Development Commission face a daunting question.

What’s next?

EDC staff and board members started the process of finding an answer to that question at the commission’s monthly board meeting Wednesday morning.

“We don’t have an answer today, but it’s something we need to start thinking about,” EDC Chairman Jay Smith said after Economic Development Commission President Justin Strickland and Vice President Barbara Rivera Holmes recapped the marketing campaign that is winding toward its six-month conclusion.

Strickland told the board continuation of the campaign is vital, but he said the questions now are who will drive the campaign into a Phase 2 and who will finance it.

“I think what comes next is at the direction of the community,” the EDC president said. “It’s going to take resources. I think this is something that is necessary to continue, but a campaign like this is a marathon. You can’t do everything we want to do in six months.”

Members of the board agreed.

“Momentum is a powerful thing,” Chris Hatcher said. “If we have momentum coming out of this campaign, we need to use that.”

Added interim City Manager Tom Berry: “This community has a real reputation of starts and stops. If we stop this now, it will be a real detriment, probably more so than if we’d never started it in the first place.”

Members B.J. Fletcher, an Albany city commissioner, and Richard Crowdis, Dougherty County administrator, suggested increasing awareness of the campaign and raising funds for Phase 2 through sales of T-shirts, ties or other items that feature the campaign logo.

EDC staff also showed off the hardware it received at recent AudioVisual Arts and International Economic Development Council awards ceremonies. The Albany group won gold and platinum AVA awards for the “There’s Only One Albany” campaign and a gold Excellence in Economic Development Award from the IEDC for its video campaign featuring “We Are Albany” and “Made in Albany” videos.