Rolling out the welcome mat
Story by Paul South
Submitted photos
A new campaign celebrating this city’s big-city feel and small town charm is up and running. Its message? “Gotta Get to Gadsden.”
The social media and advertising blitz, funded through a $20,000 grant from the Innovate Alabama Network makes the pitch that the combination of modern technology and Gadsden’s proximity to Birmingham, Atlanta, Huntsville and Chattanooga make Gadsden an ideal place to work and live.
The genesis of the campaign took root during a City Hall brainstorming session in John Moore’s office. Moore serves as Gadsden’s director of economic development. Gotta Get to Gadsden is a joint effort by the city and the Gadsden-Etowah Industrial Development Authority.
“We were looking at branding the city, but then we turned it into an industrial development campaign that we could use on a regional basis,” Moore said. “At that point, Tina King wrote the grant application to Innovate Alabama for website development and commercial creation.”
The target audience for the media effort are workers in the Southeast to areas an easy commute from Gadsden.
“Right now, we’re targeting the Southeast region, those people who possibly live in Atlanta, where they’re paying $2,500-$3,000 a month to work from home. We’re asking them to come to Gadsden, where the cost of living is a third of what they would pay in these big cities.”
He added, “We have the amenities of the Coosa River, Noccalula Falls and our cool downtown. That’s what the commercials focus on.”
For now, the social media reach of the campaign will focus on a specific slice of the regional pie. “Right now, we’ll probably target through social media, and we’ll be very specific on age groups and the type of demographics that we target in social media. We’ll be looking at within 200 miles of Gadsden with a higher income. And we’re going to want to have the outdoor enthusiasts.”
Why not? “If you think about it, if we can recruit 200 stay-at-home workers to come to Gadsden, that’s just like landing a plant that employs 200 workers. Our question is, if you could live anywhere, why would you not live here?”
The campaign will have a seasonal bent. Right now, with all the holiday-related events going on in Gadsden, that’s a natural fit. The campaign will re-emerge in the spring, with the Coosa River and recreation taking center stage.
The campaign comes at a time when Gadsden is on the move. “We’re growing. We’re growing fast. But we’re growing in the right way,” said Gadsden Mayor Craig Ford. “We’re bringing in the right people.”
Gadsden’s predecessors left Ford and the City Council with a large pool of undesignated funds. “We were able to do a lot of economic projects we started then it was post COVID … and we started breaking ground everywhere and everybody started noticing Gadsden,” Ford said. “We’ve got a river that runs right through. We’ve got the mountains. We’ve got two hospitals. It’s a great economic sector.”
From 8 to 5 every day, “our population triples. People come from places like Rainbow City to work, then they go back home. We’re growing, and we’re not landlocked because we’re trying to annex everywhere we can.”
Gadsden also faces a housing shortage.
“It’s not just low-income housing,” Ford said. “It’s the $500,000-$700,000 homes that would be $1 million to $1.5 million homes in Birmingham. So, we’re working with our real estate people, our homebuilders. I was born and raised here, and I’ve never seen growth like we have now in Gadsden.”
But the Gotta Get To Gadsden campaign isn’t just aimed at remote workers. It also serves as a reminder to folks who already call the city and surrounding areas home, Moore said.
“Sometimes it’s just good to remind people of the good things going on in your city,” he said. “You sometimes have to remind people of how good they really have it.”
He called it “a twofold system where you’re targeting remote workers. But you’re also branding and reminding everyone that Gadsden is a great place to live.”
When Ford took office, people were leaving the city, Moore said. Now, surrounding areas are trying to be annexed in, Moore said.
“It’s crazy,” Moore said.
Ford put it simply. “Life in Gadsden promises a high quality of life. Gadsden is a great place to visit and once you get here, you won’t leave. You’ll love it. People’s quality of life will improve 10 times by moving to Gadsden,” he said
“You gotta get to Gadsden. That’s the most important thing.”
Editor’s Note: For more on Gotta Get to Gadsden, visit its website, GottaGetToGadsden.com
