As Director of the Johnston County Economic Development, Chris Johnson coordinates with the Department of Commerce, Economic Development Partnership of NC, Site Consultants, and other public and private agencies on issues regarding economic development.
During his 8-year tenure, Chris has directed nearly $4 Billion dollars of new and expanded industry investment and over 3,000 jobs in Johnston County. Those projects include: Grifols Therapeutics, Novo Nordisk, Berry Global, 3C Packaging, OPW, Dollar General, Ashley Homestore, Berry Plastics, AdvanceTECH and most recently Amazon’s $100M investment in Smithfield.
Chris cut his economic development teeth at the main street level doing historic rehab, redeveloping downtown Smithfield NC, and assisting small businesses. One of the businesses he is most proud of is the one his wife owns and operates: Jewel's Formals. For the last 31 years they have weathered economic downturns, fashion changes, recessions and now a pandemic. His customer service attitude in economic Development can be traced back directly to this retail establishment.
Chris Johnson has been a guest on 1 episode.
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36: Mind the T's with Chris Johnson in Johnston County
January 31st, 2022 | 28 mins 30 secs
econ dev, economic development, entrepreneurship, north carolina, retail
Chris Johnson is the Director of Johnston County North Carolina Economic Development. Imagine how difficult it would be to give out his email address. Dane and Chris talk about Chris's background in retail and what new perspectives he's brought to economic development including thinking of a spec building as a loss leader.