Johnson leaves chamber for expanded role
On October 1, Miranda Johnson, the director of the Atlanta City Development Corporation and the current president of the Atlanta Area Chamber of Commerce, sent a press release to the current chamber members that she would be stepping down from her role as the president of the Chamber and transitioning to the full-time effort Atlanta City Development Executive Director.
“It is with the support of the Chamber Board, Atlanta City Development Board (ACDC), and Atlanta Tourism Board that I share this news with you.
“When a business grows to the point of hiring additional team members, it is worthy of celebration. This is the point we have reached with my role(s) as Chamber President/Tourism Administrator and Executive Director of the Atlanta City Development Corporation. As much as I enjoy being Chamber President, the time has come to pass the torch and raise up new leadership in order to best serve our Chamber Members and support the efforts of the Atlanta Tourism Board.
“I will be transitioning out of my role as Chamber President at the end of 2021, and focusing my full attention on my duties as the Atlanta City Development Executive Director.
“My years as Chamber President have been wonderful, and I will continue to support the Chamber through mentorship and team development in the coming months and as a forevermore as a community partner.
By moving into the full-time role of the Atlanta City Development Executive Director, Miranda feels that it will benefit the community through “having the dedicated time and talent of two different professionals to lead our Chamber and City Development Corp. rather than just one person will increase our capacity to better manage new projects and our growing Chamber. We have a lot going on these days, and we want to set ourselves up for continued growth!”
Along with what she is currently doing Johnson plans to continue her “education regarding economic development project funding, and active recruitment of new businesses is something I’m looking forward to being a bigger part of.” As of August 2021, Miranda holds her PCED (Professional Community and Economic Developer) through the Community Development Institute.
Looking back at her time with the Chamber, Johnson is most proud “of the growth we’ve seen Downtown and throughout the community. I am in no way taking the credit, but our goal at the Chamber is to create connections and build community. Those are things we do well that I truly believe have been contributing factors to why Atlanta is a place where people want to live and work.”
Looking forward to her expanded role, Johnson’s “goal for this first year of transition is to work with other local entities to get a realistic assessment of our current assets and make some strategies on how to best market ourselves and start making plans to address any areas that may be holding us back. ACDC also has some projects that we want to keep moving forward such as the preservation of a historic building on Main Street and developing the lot where the Derrick Motel was demolished.”
To avoid confusion Johnson explains the difference between the entities that have similar names and the opportunities each has. “Atlanta is somewhat unique in that we have two economic development entities: a “type A” called Atlanta Economic Development, and a “type B” which is my ACDC. Our type A entity manages our business park and looks for opportunities to create local jobs. ACDC seeks retail development to build our tax base and considers improvement projects that help ready our community for growth. The entities work together and complement each other. There are a number of different resources either entity can offer to attract business, but we take it case by case. “
Johnson believes the “most exciting thing about this transition is that it is a result of growth. We are moving in a positive direction, and every entity is working together to self-evaluate, regularly communicate, strategize and work together in a collaborative fashion. Good things will come of this!”
The job search is already beginning to find a new president of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.