Cornelia Community Development Manager Jessie Owensby is included in Georgia Trend Magazine’s 2019 ’40 Under 40′ list. The distinguished list names professional standouts statewide who are under the age of 40.
The magazine says Owensby, 37, advocated for change that helped spur growth in restaurants and made an entertainment district in Cornelia “feasible.”
“In the past four years, about 80 percent of the businesses opening in Cornelia were by people under 40,” Owensby says. She sees youthful entrepreneurs as essential to her goal of making her kids want to raise her future grandkids here, according to the magazine.
Deep roots
Owensby has deep roots in Northeast Georgia. She grew up in Oakwood and attended boarding school at Rabun Gap, graduating in 2001. After attending Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) she says she “came home and married my sweetie.”
Owensby’s husband, Mike, is a 1998 graduate of Habersham Central High School. He too attended MTSU where he played football.
Their junior year in college, a family crisis drew them back to Habersham County. Mike’s mother was diagnosed with brain cancer. When she died, the young couple inherited her house and began building their future together.
“I went to work at Northeast Georgia Medical Center for ten years while I figured out what I wanted to be when I grew up,” Jessie tells Now Habersham.
She and Mike have now been married for 16 years and have two children, Jake and Savana.
In 2013, Jessie enrolled at Piedmont College. She graduated in 2015 with a degree in mass communications and briefly worked as a local radio news director. She then took over as Executive Director of Main Street Cornelia. That eventually morphed into her current job as Community Development Manager for the city.
Energetic and full of ideas, Owensby oversees strategic planning and manages Cornelia’s tourism. In August, she was awarded a level-one certification by the Georgia Downtown Association at the group’s annual conference in Jekyll Island, Georgia.
Owensby credits her mass comm professor Dr. Dale Van Cantfort with helping her get where she is. “Dr. Van Cantfort kept me motivated throughout my time at Piedmont,” she says. “He remains my biggest cheerleader, mentor, and supporter. I call him for advice today.”
“It is always rewarding when I see one of my former students recognized for their hard work,” says Van Cantfort. “Jessie’s commitment to her community is on display every day of the week. I am so very happy for her and I look forward to seeing her continue to make an impact here in our community.”
Sharing the credit
Cornelia City Manager Dee Anderson says Owensby has learned a lot in her first few years with the city. “She works tirelessly to make Cornelia, especially downtown, the vibrant community that we all wish for. We are very proud of her recognition for this prestigious award.”
Owensby eagerly shares the credit.
“I haven’t accomplished anything on my own. Everything that’s been done here in the last four years has been a collaboration,” she says as she cites the names of multiple people, departments, and agencies with which she works.
“Brian Horton has taught me everything I know about economic development, the late Tim Lee mentored me, Dale Van Cantfort and Piedmont College literally got me here.” Add to that list Cornelia’s Downtown Development Authority, Building Department, Fire Marshal, Public Works, Water Department, City Manager and commissioners, Hospitality and Tourism Board, volunteers, private investors, and Chamber of Commerce, and Owensby stresses, “We can’t do anything separately. We can only accomplish goals through teamwork.”
Owensby calls economic development “a never-ending group project.” For her, it’s a project with both public and personal goals.
“My vision is to have a thriving downtown. I want us to create a place where people feel pride in their community and pride in ownership of property. I want to have a place where my kids make such good childhood memories, that they come back here and raise their kids here.
Just as she and her husband did.
Click here to view Georgia’ Trend’s complete 2019 40 Under 40 list
