A local restaurateur, DDA chair, and Main Street mover and shaker received statewide recognition for his role in downtown Toccoa’s success.
Greg Schultz was awarded the "Outstanding Leadership Award" by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs and the Georgia Downtown Association.
The "DCA Annual Outstanding Leadership Award" is a single award presented each year to a professional or leader at a public or private level who has shown exemplary leadership in the field of downtown development.
"It’s a great honor to receive this award," said Schultz after the award reception on October 8. "There are so many people working hard to make downtown Toccoa a successful place to do business. I am humbled to be selected."
Schultz was recognized for investing his time, energy, and money into Toccoa’s award winning revitalization efforts. His passion for Main Street Toccoa became evident back in 2003 when he began conducting community surveys to determine what the locals and downtown businesses wanted and would support in a downtown restaurant.
The result of his effort, Cornerstone Restaurant, continues to draw hundreds of hungry residents and visitors each week to Toccoa’s Main Street district. But Schultz’s passion turned out to be more than just his food; he became a downtown advocate and spokesperson.
As Cornerstone re-opened, controversial plans were also underway to remove the 1970’s concrete canopies in the downtown district and re-open Doyle Street, and Schultz became very active in the public relations campaign to remove the canopies.
He began serving on the Downtown Development Authority in 2005 and worked directly with downtown businesses during the, sometimes, messy canopy demotion project and subsequent street re-opening. His positive spirit and leadership helped maintain an upbeat attitude with the merchants affected by this change, and his restaurant continued to draw new people to downtown Toccoa.
After the street re-opened, new restaurants opened along Doyle Street, and Schultz continued to ride the momentum to purchase another Doyle Street restaurant that had closed, The Rebel Café, a Toccoa icon for the past 60 years. Schultz re-opened the business and restored the building to comply with the Historic Preservation Commission’s design guidelines.
Even with this additional restaurant, Schultz accepted the nomination to be chair of the DDA, and he continued to work closely with local business owners to see that their concerns were being addressed. His ability to empathize with business and property owners proved invaluable as buildings were being renovated and new business owners moved to Main Street. He also instituted quarterly meetings between the DDA and merchants.
As a fourth year chair of the DDA in a top ten Main Street City, Schultz spends some mornings in meetings and evenings in ceremonies and recognition events. He serves on the Budget Committee, Organization Committee, and Economic Restructuring Committee. He constantly fields questions from property owners and business owners, yet he always has time to serve the DDA and main street businesses.
(Photo provided by the Georgia DCA from left: President of the Georgia Downtown Association Monica Callahan, Justin Collins, Brittany Collins, Anastasia Schultz, Chelsea Schultz, Greg Schultz, Loni Schulz, and Office of Downtown Director Billy Pa
Winter in Northeast Georgia just got a little warmer thanks to Toccoa's newest restaurant.
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