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For the Love of Here is a podcast about Dalton, Georgia and life across Northwest Georgia—from local businesses and entrepreneurship to community leadership and hometown pride.
Hosts Erika Mosteller and Lauren Sneary sit down with founders, civic leaders, creatives, and neighbors from Dalton, Chatsworth, Ringgold, and Calhoun to talk about the ideas, challenges, and opportunities shaping our region.
If you care about small-town business, local culture, economic growth, and building a life where you live, this podcast is for you.
Because you don’t need a bigger city. You just need a better lens.
Produced by Here Local Media.
Ep09
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[00:00:00]
Lauren Sneary: All right. And welcome back to our latest episode of the Love of Here podcast.
My co-host, Erika Mosteller, is sitting here with me, of course, and I would just love to know how your day is going, Erika.
Erika Mosteller: It is great. Patton and I were just talking about how it is a Tuesday that feels like a Friday, 'cause we've accomplished so much in two days.
Lauren Sneary: Wow. I was gonna say Mon- it feels like a Monday, but that's nice.,
Erika Mosteller: We've been rocking and rolling.
We're getting stuff done.
Nice.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah. Well, I know both of us are coming off a week of vacation time, and it's always fun getting back into the swing of things, fun being one word for it. [00:01:00]
Erika Mosteller: But, but I will say, it is lovely to come back home after vacation. Oh. It makes you appreciate it more.
Lauren Sneary: You, you do always bring it back to the core message.
Erika Mosteller: True, I do.
Lauren Sneary: Which is that we love being here.
Erika Mosteller: Perks of the job.
Meet Barr y Gentry
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Lauren Sneary: And speaking of being here, our guest today is someone who loves local just as much as we do, if not more.
Erika Mosteller: Maybe more. I would say more.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah, maybe more. Yeah. We are so excited to welcome Barry Gentry to the podcast.
Barry is the president of the Murray County Chamber of Commerce, where he has been for a little over five years now. And his energy and passion for the people and businesses there are truly inspirational, and also infectious. Like, he really gets you excited about Murray County and the things that are happening there, and has made it his mission to support development and expansion in critical areas of community wellbeing, from housing opportunity, local business growth, entrepreneurship, beautification, education, workforce development, and honestly so much more.
But I'm gonna let him talk about that a little bit hopefully today. So we're just so proud to see all the things that our neighbors in Murray County [00:02:00] are doing, and so proud to have Barry here to talk to us about that today. So Barry, thanks for joining us.
Barry Gentry: It is my pleasure, and thank you for making me sound eloquent and all that stuff.
Lauren Sneary: I mean, what you're doing is really awesome.
Barry Gentry: Well, I appreciate that.
Lauren Sneary: We're so excited to have you.
Erika Mosteller: I know. I... So my husband's family is from Murray County. And the first time I met you when, for my marketing agency when I joined the Chamber, and you told me that you thought my email was spam, that was hilarious. You were like, "I didn't respond 'cause it looked like spam." I was like, "Thanks, Barry." So then I just showed up one day and we got to meet, but I went home and I told Tucker, I was like, "Tucker, there's some cool stuff happening in Murray County. Like, you should really be paying attention." And he was kinda skeptical because he's been involved with Murray County for a long time.
So it's kinda similar to some other things that we see in Northwest Georgia where it's the transplants, the people who are new here, who recognize the beauty and the cool factor that's going on, but the people who've been here for forever have a different paradigm.
Why Murray County
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Erika Mosteller: And so I would love to kick off with how you decided to move to Murray County, and what attracted you that you saw something here that maybe other [00:03:00] people missed.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah.
Barry Gentry: Well, and I have to be very careful 'cause my honesty sometimes gets me in trouble.
Lauren Sneary: We love honesty.
Erika Mosteller: We like direct communicators, Barry. Good. Go for it.
Barry Gentry: Someone's always asking me, "How do you, how did you get to Murray?" I said, "It was that wrong turn- that landed to a, such a good spot in my life."
And um, I was... This is my third chamber. So I've cut my teeth on a larger chamber in Iowa- So I was there for 12 years, and my boss there just gave me so much freedom and gave me just wings to try to, you know, to fail if I had to or to succeed if I, if I got to. So I just took what I've learned in bigger chambers to small town Murray. And I know Murray's a county, but I- we're Murray Chamber, so always I never wanna put Chatsworth and Etown, 'cause that can get kinda, eh. So anyway, we love Murray County. I just thought, you know, it deserves better. We don't need to go, no offense, across the river to, to find a good restaurant or to have a good boutique. So I said, "We ... Let's just build something." But I tell you what, there's a lot of [00:04:00] naysayers.
They won't change or they don't want change. So I decided to just follow my heart and my gut, and we just started knocking on doors of investors. And being available is the key, and I build locally. If you don't, any chamber person, if they're a good chamber person, if they don't build locally, there's no foundation. So I know where my foundations lie. I'm from Cartersville. That's where I was born.
Lauren Sneary: I was gonna say, that's not a Iowa accent. Yeah.
Barry Gentry: It's not. It's Southern, Well, I always said I was Southern Iowa. But I, 'cause the work ethic there is amazing, just like it is here. And I always told the Dubuquers is what, Dubuque, iowa, that they were the New South, they just didn't know it, so.
Lauren Sneary: And that was a compliment.
Barry Gentry: To them, they thought it was. Yeah. 'Cause they loved the Southern accent, and I loved, you know, just really milking that when I was up in the Yankee land, so. But Cartersville is Cartersville, and that's my home. And, but Murray is just beautiful. I mean, you guys know. You, you've been [00:05:00] driven through there.
You've come to our events. And I get to show it off, and I'm just the, the big mouth chamber president that gets to be the commercial sometimes and the testimonials most of the time. And people from outside, like you said, those folks are discovering Murray, and they're doing great things. Now, the local, I would love for them to be more invested literally with their dollars. But hey, if someone from Acworth and Cartersville and Cleveland and whomever wants to come in and help us pretty things up, we'll say yeah.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Hollywood And Chip Wade
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Erika Mosteller: So I would love, 'cause y'all have had some pretty intriguing outside investors. So I would love for you to tell us about some kinda big names who have come and chosen to, you know,
build-
Lauren Sneary: Build something in Murray
Erika Mosteller: Yeah, really cool in Murray County.
Barry Gentry: Well, the big names, if, if I could just, you know, flaunt a little bit- Please do ... 'cause we have a three-story hospital about to be open. Well, excuse me, about to break ground. But I think you're talking about maybe Hollywood.
Erika Mosteller: A little bit.
Barry Gentry: There was some stud guy there that [00:06:00] all the ladies swooned over maybe a couple of guys.
But anyway so h- I can't, I don't know his name. Brandon something?
Lauren Sneary: Oh, I th- from- See, I thought we were going Chip Wade. I thought we were going Chip Wade too.
Barry Gentry: Oh, well, well Chip's number two pass-
Lauren Sneary: But you, you had an actual movie star there. Oh, yeah.
Barry Gentry: I didn't know that. Yes. Yeah, it was a Taylor Sheridan production.
Like, you might've heard of a little thing called Yellowstone.
Lauren Sneary: Oh. Yellowstone. That was the show?
Barry Gentry: Yeah. It's it's called Rescue. It's actually a movie. Okay. And it was filmed in Murray. Oh, now Chip, we love Chip. Yeah. Chip Wade, he's just a Emmy Award winner. This, that was actually-
Erika Mosteller: Oh, okay. He's an Emmy Award winner. Yeah.
Barry Gentry: So it's funny 'cause I was talking to Chip on the way over here, and they if you haven't looked at Penhote Peak, I think you guys actually did a, did a feature.
Erika Mosteller: We did, and we've actually had two to three readers who've told us they have gone and booked out the entire place- after reading our article.
Barry Gentry: Really?
Erika Mosteller: Yeah. So I'll be contacting Chip soon. Don't worry- about advertising with him.
Barry Gentry: Well, he's got... He uh, has Penhote Peak, and he calls it tree houses, but I think they're McMansions.
Erika Mosteller: They're fancy tree houses.
Barry Gentry: Yeah. Yes. They're bougie like these ladies are. So it- we're ex- excited about that.
[00:07:00] It's Airbnb development, as you know, and there's a mansion. The, even the pool has a window. It's, it's crazy.
Lauren Sneary: It is really cool.
Barry Gentry: So Chip has taken things that materials that, that it may not have been intended to build that way and completely used, you know, very unique ways of, of doing so.
Lauren Sneary: They are so unique. Oh. There's like a slide on the second story of one.
Barry Gentry: Oh, yeah.
Lauren Sneary: Like, it, it's incredible. Yes.
Erika Mosteller: There's an in-ground trampoline. There's a giant chess set.
Barry Gentry: Yes. And there's-
Erika Mosteller: Secret bookshelves. I always love that.
Barry Gentry: Isn't that fun?
Erika Mosteller: That is really fun. Yeah.
He has little Easter eggs in all the properties, which I think is just fun.
Barry Gentry: I didn't know this.
Erika Mosteller: Like, Easter eggs meaning surprises.
Barry Gentry: Oh. Like
little- Little nuggets ...
Erika Mosteller: Fun surprises in every,
Lauren Sneary: You're like, "Wait,
Barry Gentry: I was gonna go look for Easter eggs. Are they chocolate?
Erika Mosteller: We can suggest that to Chip next time
Barry Gentry: Hey, you know what? Chip would do it. Yeah. So he and his wife, and I hope I'm, don't get in trouble for sharing this, but he and his wife came to Murray a couple weeks ago. He said, "I got an idea." He said "HGTV Canada loves Murray County." I said, "Ooh." He said, "Can we talk?" I'm like, "Yeah."
Erika Mosteller: Of course.
Barry Gentry: So we came, and red carpet was put out for Chip, as always. I love him. He's a Emmy [00:08:00] Award winner-
from HGTV.
Erika Mosteller: But like really down to earth.
Barry Gentry: Ugh.
Erika Mosteller: When you introduced me to him and I was like, "Hey, we wanna do a story," he just was like, "Okay, give me a call."
And I just, like, called him up on his cell phone- and chatted with him. And he, like, walked me- through all the properties. Right? I was- But I just love that. Like, he's very famous and very brilliant. But he's very humble and down to earth, and I think that's why-
Barry Gentry: And his wife is, too ...
Erika Mosteller: I think that's why he fits in well in Murray County.
Barry Gentry: Oh, I love him.
Erika Mosteller: There's not a lot of pretension in Murray County. I love that about Murray County. Yeah.
Barry Gentry: Well, we don't like ego.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah, y'all just wanna-
Barry Gentry: So we, so we push that out ...
Erika Mosteller: Yeah, you just wanna be in a beautiful place- and, like, work together towards progress, which I love.
Barry Gentry: But I will give you a list of those who aren't so-
Lauren Sneary: We'll call 'em out right here
Barry Gentry: but, but not, not today. Tune in. Tune in. But I, you met Chip 'cause I invited ...you- to the very first... You met him when I met him.
He'd never been invited, he said, to a chamber or any kinda community lunch. I said, "Well, this is a big deal." And I recognize, thank God, I recognize when something good could happen.
Well, he's got something else in the works.
Erika Mosteller: That's exciting.
Barry Gentry: And it could be potentially a [00:09:00] HGTV series-
Erika Mosteller: That's so cool
Barry Gentry: ... based in Murray County. Yeah. I know- And I'm sorry, Chip ...
Erika Mosteller: It is gorgeous over there. Like, I remember growing up my in-laws, who are from Whitfield County, well, actually they're from Murray County and then have since lived here, they always call it God's Country.
And I would just always kinda, like, laugh about it. Like, "Okay, yeah, God's Country." And then the first time I came to visit I was like, "Oh, this is actually really beautiful." Yeah.
Barry Gentry: Isn't it pretty?
Erika Mosteller: It is. And, and- the distinction in, like, flora and fauna and... Like, there was one time we got lost in the rain coming off of Fort Mountain, or no, it wasn't Fort Mountain, it was Grassy. And we came, our GPS brought us a different way 'cause it was a storm, and I, I really felt like I was in Highlands, North Carolina based on what I was seeing just in the forest. And didn't even realize we had that elevation for that type of flora and fauna here. Yeah. So it's just really beautiful.
Barry Gentry: You're right. And and I'm learning something every day. I've lived in Murray just almost six years. I've been at the chamber f- little over five. And then I m- I just found out Grassy's taller than Fort. I thought, Really. And-
Erika Mosteller: I did know that.
Barry Gentry: And there's a lake up there.
The highest [00:10:00] lake in Georgia is-
Lauren Sneary: Yes, you can camp there.
Barry Gentry: Isn't it crazy?
Well, I don't camp. I don't go outside. To get in my car. But I, you know, I'm, I'm learning a lot. And luckily, this is my first president role. I was a senior vice president 12 years, which I love that number two spot 'cause you get away with everything. And there's no board to say no.
But my board, I'm blessed, my board has never said no.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah, those are, those are good people.
Barry Gentry: Yeah, and I love 'em all, and we, we do DC trips to get funding for these projects that you're starting to see, and there's so much more to come.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah.
And one of the things I love about the, for, for example, the Chip Waite project, which you could see as, oh yeah, it opens up some, rental opportunities and people can go stay there.
But you are always thinking so much bigger picture and longer term. You're thinking, "Okay, that means people coming into Murray who wanna come to our downtown and spend money, who wanna look at what we have to offer, who wanna stay here, maybe come back here- recommend it to other people." So I always love the vision that you guys seem to have and how present you [00:11:00] are with the community and its needs.
Getting Murray On The Map
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Lauren Sneary: So I was just wondering, as you, you know, when you came into Murray five or six years ago, how long did it take you to feel like you really kind of, you understood the dynamics, or at least enough of it to figure out what's gonna, what's gonna help take us to the next level, and what steps do we need to take to get there?
Erika Mosteller: And who do we need to get on our team?
Lauren Sneary: Yeah. '
Erika Mosteller: Cause that's often the big question too.
Barry Gentry: Well, if, if you think I've figured it out, thank you, 'cause I'm still figuring that out. Well, you know, I got there, and the first thing I heard, which I hated, you're not from here, so you're gonna never fit in here."
Lauren Sneary: Yeah, that's a tough one to overcome.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Barry Gentry: And then that saying, "Why fit in? I wanna stand out." And you know my personality.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah
Lauren Sneary: Right. Yeah, you don't have to work at that. That... Yeah.
Barry Gentry: So I decided, hey, they said we can't do this, so you know what? We're gonna do this.
Lauren: But
Barry Gentry: you know, there's, there's believers.
Lauren Sneary: Oh, yeah.
Barry Gentry: And there's always those keyboard cowards that never, ever gonna like anything. But just thought, first of all, we got to get Murray on the map. So we [00:12:00] hired, and I don't wanna go into my, too much of a business spiel 'cause I love just talking about- Y'all. Yeah, gossip. No.
Retail Recruitment Wins
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Barry Gentry: I said, "We gotta do something. We gotta get Murray on the map, and the only way to do that is to invest in a retail coach."
And that's not cheap. But I thought if we're gonna you know, knock it up a notch or two, we gotta get this outside source. So we come together, and we do have a lot of great partners. It's both cities, the county chamber, the water authority, and the economic development come together and put our funds together.
You know, doing together what you can't do by yourself. And we hired this recruiter, and he spent the first 18 months, he said, "It's gonna be just getting people to know who Murray is, what Murray is-" ...where Murray is. So he did it, and next thing I knew, I was cutting a ribbon at Dunkin' Donuts. And-
Lauren Sneary: That's so cool.
Barry Gentry: And that's either good or bad for your waistline, but, um. And the kids, they come in, and, and guys, they gave the students free coffee for 30 days.
Erika Mosteller: Oh, wow. Wow.
Barry Gentry: And that's... now where do you think those kids are gonna go for coffee?
Erika Mosteller: Right.
Barry Gentry: [00:13:00] Yeah. So that happened, and again, I hope this doesn't sound cheesy, but we got, we're getting a Waffle House.
We're getting Factory Connection. So those national, small national brands, and we're all on the phone, we're on the phone every week with the TJ Maxxes of the world and the Chick-fil-As of the world. So they know where Murray is now. And what's really happening to us now is the healthcare love we're getting- from Hamilton and Advent. They're both building million dollars projects, multimillion-dollar projects. So that's making my job easy. When you say, "Hey, we got a new hospital coming in, and they're gonna be hiring 200 executives and doctors and all this," they said, "Hey, where can we fit in here?" So I'm like, "Let me show you."
So now that's five years worth of sweat, a little bit of blood, a lot of cussing.
Lauren Sneary: Some tears.
Barry Gentry: uh, Lot, lots of tears. Well, Spencer had... He walked in one day, and I, I had just had enough. You know, you do, you do and do, was just feeling beaten down, and I was actually man-crying in my office. Spencer, if you don't know him, he's like, "Hey, what are you crying for?"
Like, he has no, no emotions.
Lauren Sneary: Spencer is [00:14:00] your second-in-command at the chamber-
Barry Gentry: My vice president,
Lauren Sneary: for the, for our listeners.
Barry Gentry: Yeah, he's great. And he's from Murray. He was on the pathway to be, like, a doctor or something like that, and now he wind up in chamber. So hey, you never know. He's great.
He keeps me off the ledge. So if, if I'm on a ledge, he's not. If he's on a ledge, I'm not. So surround yourself, guys. I don't care if you're a old I almost said fart. Not me. But, can balance. You know, pick you a millennial, pick you a gen, whatever they are these days, give them a seat at the table- 'cause they have got some great ideas. Now, we don't agree all the time, as you know, but um, it, it works.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah.
Barry Gentry: So Murray now loves Murray, and they're discovering Murray. I say every community should have a show called Whatever Community Discovering Whatever Community- because a lot of your locals, they don't ever know.
They don't ever think that that's in their town or in their co-
Lauren Sneary: They don't break out of their routine-
Barry Gentry: They don't. They don't. That's so sad ...
Lauren Sneary: and go somewhere new, yeah. Yeah.
Barry Gentry: So we're really relying... I said, "If you're gonna open a shop or a restaurant, don't do it for Murray, per [00:15:00] se. Do it for Dalton. Do it for Cartersville. Do it for those who love those back roads and love discover Americana." And Murray is Americana. You guys are lucky because you do... Lucky and unlucky, the interstate, that could be a friend or a foe.
But it draws. I-75- but we have Four Mountain.
And so I'm willing to say, "Hey, that could be our 75."
Lauren Sneary: You gotta play to your strengths.
Barry Gentry: You do.
Yeah,
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Discovering Murray Outdoors
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Erika Mosteller: And- Yeah, and I'm curious because, you know, when you look at you know, like Ellijay and the vineyard scene that's in some of your neighbors'- communities, are, are you feeling like some of that is helping people discover Murray too?
Barry Gentry: Absolutely. It's a spillover.
Erika Mosteller: Because it's right there, yeah.
Barry Gentry: We call it the spillover. And have you been to Rue? Have you been there yet?
Erika Mosteller: No, but I want to. It's on my list.
Barry Gentry: Oh, we do go-
Erika Mosteller: Rue Vineyards ...
Barry Gentry: I'll take you 'cause I-
Erika Mosteller: Oh, yeah. You're from somewhere-
Barry Gentry: ...I know, I know the CEO.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah, yeah.
Barry Gentry: But they're members of our chamber.
And, and you don't have to be in Murray to be a member of the Murray Chamber.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah, we're members.
Yeah.
Barry Gentry: Yes, you are.
Yeah.
We take... You know, we wanna help [00:16:00] everybody. I-
Here Murray Magazine News
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Erika Mosteller: And we're actually announcing, I guess, we're expanding to Murray County. Yes. We're gonna do a Here Murray magazine.
Barry Gentry: I'm so sad.
Erika Mosteller: We're very excited about it
Barry Gentry: I'm excited and I'm not sad. No, see, I meant when we first talked- I said, "Why does this have to have, you know, that word on it?"
Erika Mosteller: Oh.
Barry Gentry: Dalton. Dalton, yeah. Dalton. and you guys were so s- you, Eric sp- Eric and Lauren were such a believers in what I thought I could help,
and win at the same time over, you know, getting Murray some marketing, so,
Lauren Sneary: So here, Murray, coming fall of 2026.
Barry Gentry: I love that. Yeah. I love that. And I met with your great team-
just last week, I think.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Barry Gentry: I was late for that meeting, sorry. We had a great, I started a new series called Get to Know the CEO.
Erika Mosteller: Oh, cool.
Barry Gentry: And it's nothing... It's just about getting to know that person. Do you ever watch Inside the Actor's Studio?
Lauren Sneary: Oh, yeah.
Barry Gentry: It's that. Like, what's your favorite cuss word? What's your biggest pet peeve? Yeah. And just that kinda thing. It was great.
Erika Mosteller: So- What is your biggest pet peeve?
Barry Gentry: My biggest pet peeve is unbelievers.
Erika Mosteller: Mm.
Barry Gentry: Yeah. And also that gives me energy, though, to, [00:17:00] like, just plow 'em down.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah. Or
show 'em the, show 'em the positive. I mean- Right
Barry Gentry: Oh, my gosh ...
Lauren Sneary: That's what we're trying to do here as well. I know, yeah.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Barry Gentry: And it's exciting.
Downtown Chatsworth Tour
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Barry Gentry: And downtown Chatsworth, I know you guys have been over there. Actually, I walked you around and you, you were like-
Lauren Sneary: Yeah, that was a really, like... That day was, like, illuminating.
I was gonna stay over there for maybe 30 minutes. Barry and Spencer were like-
Erika Mosteller: There, being downtown Murray?
Lauren Sneary: Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: Downtown Chatsworth.
Lauren Sneary: 'Cause I, I had a meeting-
Barry Gentry: She came after a luncheon.
Lauren Sneary: Yes. Yeah. I I stayed aft- a little bit after a luncheon, and they were like, "Why don't we... You know, it's easier if we just show you." And so they started walking me around and I was like, "Where am I?" Like, this is... There was the mark- Crown Craft Market. Crown Craft. There were so many booths with so many cool things, and it was bustling, right? And it was, like, middle of the afternoon , all these great restaurants. We went over to the beautiful bakery.
And they were completely sold out because of how much traffic they'd had.
Barry Gentry: Yep.
Erika Mosteller: And how delicious it is.
Barry Gentry: Oh.
Erika Mosteller: I- Their
scones, oh man.
Lauren Sneary: and then I'm, like, looking out their back window at the most beautiful landscape many will ever see, and I was like, "I mean, this is... What [00:18:00] am I doing not being here?"
Barry Gentry: Yeah. Well, I love that.
Erika Mosteller: Hurrying to Murray.
Lauren Sneary: There we go.
Barry Gentry: And I thought if we can get somebody as bougie as Lauren over here.
Lauren Sneary: Oh, I, I refuse to accept that label. I go camping, Barry. You're the one.
Barry Gentry: Honey, but you're bougie camp, I bet. You go glamping, don't you?
Lauren Sneary: I absolutely do not.
Barry Gentry: You don't?
Lauren Sneary: Mm-mm.
Barry Gentry: But I also took you to the Rooster in that new park.
Lauren Sneary: Yes.
I love the Red Rooster.
Barry Gentry: The garden.
Lauren Sneary: Shout out.
Barry Gentry: I guess. Yes, I love them too.
Erika Mosteller: I know their coffee's really good. It is. You know, sometimes I get really excited about a coffee shop, and then you go and it's not real- good coffee. But, you know, you wanna support local. That's not how it is with the Red Eyed Rooster.
It is delicious-
Barry Gentry: I agree
Erika Mosteller: ... every time I go, and it's consistent, and it's really good. And they have a beautiful-
Barry Gentry: You know, customer service ...
Erika Mosteller: green space
out back.
Barry Gentry: Isn't that pretty back there?
Erika Mosteller: Yes.
Barry Gentry: I call it our own little Savannah.
Lauren Sneary: He d- he was like, "We're about to step into Savannah." really, my expectations were high and I was like, "Okay.
I mean, I can see it."
No, it was beautiful. It really was.
Barry Gentry: Yeah. Have you seen the garden yet?
Erika Mosteller: No, I don't think so.
Investors And New Restaurant
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Barry Gentry: Um, Well, you talked about investors. Holly Myers- is from Acworth, but she lives on Fort Mountain now. She stumbled into downtown and just saw what it could be, so [00:19:00] she started purchasing buildings.
Actually, where the bakery is- that was originally her building. And then she bought another, which is gonna be a, the Terry building, which will be a bougie, you'll like it, Lauren- event center.
Erika Mosteller: Oh, yes. Okay.
Barry Gentry: It's gonna be stunning. And she has a Airbnb above that has a fireplace and a-
Erika Mosteller: Oh, cool.
Barry Gentry: We have three Airbnbs/livable second stories in Murray, in Chatsworth.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Barry Gentry: And I'm like, "Yay."
There was nothing. And so she was a believer. And where Red Eyed Rooster is, she owns that whole half block building, that she took it back to its integrity, she has just done great things. And she's did the Sa- the Savannah.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Barry Gentry: And she said, "Should we name it?" I'm like, "I think I already have in my head.
It's called The Savannah." But I think she wants to name it something like Penhody or-
Erika Mosteller: Oh yeah.
Barry Gentry: Some kinda something that's- A
Erika Mosteller: nod to- the region ...
Barry Gentry: to Murray.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah. Yeah. I, I have been interested, tell us about, You've got a restaurant coming from- an outside investor. You know, we- it's interesting to me, kind of like the theme of this, is all these outside people are like, "Hey, this is kind of a diamond in the rough."[00:20:00]
There's so much potential here. Look how beautiful it is. Look how wonderful the people are. So yeah, tell me about some of the other exciting things coming to Maury County.
Barry Gentry: Well, if you know me, I'm not shy about selling. And I always say I, I love the community. Wherever my bed is is where I will support and champion.
Cause if you're a chamber life, you go to different communities if you, if you feel the need to call, be called to somewhere else, and you just love that right away. So this gentleman, his name is Dominic, and I can't pronounce his last name. He is a Brooklyn Italian. So I'm very careful with him 'cause I'm I always tease him that he's in the mafia, but I don't care. But just so, so he's nice to me.
Lauren Sneary: Stay on his good side.
Barry Gentry: Yeah. So he was, he
Lauren Sneary: and his wife were driving their motorcycle, I believe towards Chattanooga, thought... They, they said, "This is a beautiful place," and they wound up at Red Eyed Rooster. They should pay us for this today, right?
Erika Mosteller: Yeah, right.
Barry Gentry: And the Red Eyed Rooster said, "Y'all need to go over and talk to the chamber about some situations."
'Cause he was just looking for what was available. And I was in my office, but I keep it, my ear open [00:21:00] to the, what happens in the lobby all the time just 'cause I'm nosy that way. So they said, "Is there any buildings for sale here?" So my front desk person didn't really, you know, answer the phones. So I heard it, Spencer said he heard my heels, clickety, clickety, clickety- And I said, "I have a building right down the street if you wanna look at it right now." And he said, "Yeah." He saw and he bought it. Wow.
Lauren Sneary: Wow.
Barry Gentry: On the spot.
Lauren Sneary: Thank goodness you weren't working from home that day, you know- what I'm saying?
Erika Mosteller: I know, right?
Barry Gentry: I couldn't do that. I would die.
Lauren Sneary: I feel the same.
Barry Gentry: I told you I would, I would never brush my teeth if I worked from home.
Downtown Restaurant Buzz
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Barry Gentry: So he bought the DDA building, which was home to a couple of previous,
Erika Mosteller: Is that the one on the corner?
Barry Gentry: It's right smack in the middle. Right from the courthouse.
Erika Mosteller: Okay.
Barry Gentry: That- the one on the corner, that's, that's gonna be something soon too. He al- he bought that, and then he bought a three-story town home, closed on it today.
Erika Mosteller: Oh, that's great.
Barry Gentry: I'm just telling everybody's business, aren't I? So, he came over to the office. He said, "I bought it. I, I'm gonna live here."
I said, "Good. In a, in a year from now you can run for city council." And he said, "Okay." I'm like, okay, this is cool. Yeah. So his name is Dominic Napolitano. I just chopped-
Erika Mosteller: That's [00:22:00] great ...
Barry Gentry: I just butchered that.
Lauren Sneary: That's all right. We'll
Barry Gentry: He has a, restaurant in Cumming and a second one in Ball Ground.
Erika Mosteller: Okay.
Barry Gentry: And a third will be opening in the fall,
Erika Mosteller: Okay, so this fall?
Barry Gentry: Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: Oh, that's so exciting.
Wood Fired Game Changer
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Barry Gentry: Right down the block from the chamber and right across from the courthouse. If you g- when you, when you come in to eat there- I'll buy your first dinner.
Lauren Sneary: Oh, thank you.
Barry Gentry: You can sit in the window, and it's...
That courthouse is here, and then of course the back is gonna be the- Four Mountains, so.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Barry Gentry: And a wood fire is what he does. Everything's wood fire. Wings, salmon- lamb chops, steak, pizzas, and so on and so forth. Yeah. So that's gonna be a huge game changer on- downtown, so.
Arts Council Momentum
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Erika Mosteller: So the other question I wanna ask is, it's always interesting to me, I feel like a lotta times when you see the evolution of a community you can trace a lot of it to arts and how the arts are inspiring creativity and innovation and gathering people.
I mean, here in Dalton, it's been with our Creative Arts Guild has been a huge proponent of that. And in Murray County, you were integral in starting an arts organization, so we'd love to hear about that too.
Barry Gentry: Well, I don't, I didn't start it. I just helped bubble it up to the top. [00:23:00] Murray Arts Council, is that what you're talking about?
They have a new leader, and she's fantastic, she loves partnerships. Beforehand it was kinda just this cool, quiet... And they have the place right down by the chamber.
You know me, I'm very, in everybody's lane. I said, "We need to work on your, your logo, because MAC, is that mac and cheese?"
"Is that, whatever. What's going on?" So, I'm just... They, they asked my opinion. I gave it, and now they got investors that's sponsoring music in the park. I think it's,
Erika Mosteller: Yeah, the Community Foundation- ... of Northwest Georgia-
Barry Gentry: Yes, yes
Erika Mosteller: ... is one of the sponsors.
Barry Gentry: Dave, yeah, Dave come over and- and said yes to that.
And then they met Whitney Thomas the girl with the hair, you know. And she helped 'em book, and- I don't know if you need help until you let me know you need help, so I love when somebody says, "Hey, can you?" Yeah. I'm like, "Yeah, let's do something."
Lauren Sneary: Yeah.
Chamber Events Community
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Lauren Sneary: They are real- I mean, I've met the ladies who are currently leading that effort- with the Murray Arts Council several times now at a couple of your events. So you have events [00:24:00] for young professionals, you have women's luncheons. And those are always so fun to, like, connect with people there and learn about what they're doing. And not just the speakers that you guys have, but also, you know, being in the room with other people- who are doing cool things in Murray County and, and the surrounding areas. And they were just so open. Like- wanting to know what the magazine is about and how we participate in it, how they could participate in it. Could we come down and see the Murray Arts Council one day? I mean, they've been so lovely just to meet- out in the wild. So thank you f- first of all, for putting on those events- Oh, and making that opportunity exist.
Barry Gentry: Lauren was one of our speakers.
Erika Mosteller: Oh, I know.
Lauren Sneary: Yes.
Barry Gentry: Yes. And it was fantastic.
Erika Mosteller: I wanted to come, but I couldn't come that day.
Barry Gentry: Well, we'll, we'll need to get you there. If, I like you, you're gonna be a speaker someday, so... and then you got to meet my, one of my dearest friends, who's the chamber president of, Cartersville. Bartow County.
Lauren Sneary: She's so inc- I can't stop talking about her. She's-
Barry Gentry: Well, I tell her, I say, I say, "Lauren was bragging on you again," and she loves it because she's so humble. And my Lord, I love strong women. I surround [00:25:00] myself with strong women, and I learn so much 'cause you guys are full of creativity and no-nonsense, and you don't listen to the naysayers. And I think I kinda adopt some of the energy that I get from folks like yourselves, and,
Lauren Sneary: So thanks for bringing folks like that together, and I mean, you can see it in action in what's happening in Murray County right now.
Barry Gentry: Thank you. I, I want us to be genuine, I feel that you can come to our events, and if it's stuffy, I won't, I will not allow that.
I guess you guys, if I have to call somebody out and throw 'em under the bus or- ...to get a laugh, I will do that.
Cant Miss Murray
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Erika Mosteller: So what do you wish people... 'Cause our listeners, a lot of 'em are in Dalton just because that's where we're headquartered
but we do get some from around northwest Georgia. But what do you want listeners to know about Murray County- and what are, like, can't miss things in Murray County?
Barry Gentry: I believe that, I'm sorry. You, you opened the door for me to say hurry to Murray. So
Erika Mosteller: We were waiting. We were waiting for it.
Lauren Sneary: We were going there.
Barry Gentry: We love Dalton. We love Cartersville, Calhoun, Cleveland, all the [00:26:00] surrounding areas. I would just like for folks just to give us a chance. I know back in the day, it's just, it's been a place where you just own a home and sleep. But now our downtown, our mountains, our trails, our waterfalls, these are things that I may not ever see, because you do have to park and walk, and- I don't do that. Yeah. So but I can shop all day. It's grassroots. And I had someone, you guys may know a gentleman here in Dalton. His name is Beau Patton.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Barry Gentry: Sometimes I don't listen to him 'cause he's sometimes boring. But however- No, I'm teasing. I love him. He told me that he would go 10, 15 miles out of his way to avoid a highway business, because those people are gonna get business pretty much no matter how good they are, where they are, what they are, because it's convenient. He said he loves to go to Murray, Chatsworth to have lunch because it's off the beaten path. It's-
Lauren Sneary: That is so Beau. I love that.
Erika Mosteller: I know that's him.
Barry Gentry: And I, and I said, "I'm gonna s- I said I'm gonna steal that." Yeah.
Grassroots Local Wins
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Barry Gentry: And we want you to discover our [00:27:00] grassroots. Grassroots is anything that's not national chain to me.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah.
Barry Gentry: So those people that's hung that shingle perhaps worried, but they couldn't even pay the utility, and Murray has shown up and supported 'em, like the Bake House.
There's not a day in two and a half months that they've been open that they haven't had that sold out sign out front.
Erika Mosteller: That's awesome.
Is cool.
Barry Gentry: It feels good. And it, not only that, then that gives my job, I could say, " you can make it work here. Just ask those people."
Erika Mosteller: Right. Yeah.
Barry Gentry: And when the Dominick's opens, I'll be able to say, "Just ask that guy."
Lauren Sneary: Yeah.
Barry Gentry: And it just, it's a domino effect. But it, it didn't come without sweat equity.
Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: So. You had the long vision, which I think is cool. Not everybody has that. You had that vision of like, "Okay, we're gonna do the work now and it's going to pay off." "But we just have to wait for it." And you helped cast that vision and bring people along, which is a gift. Like, it's really cool.
Barry Gentry: Well, I'm old, so I've been around a long time. I've, I've been through the hard knocks and then the, the smooth sailing. Sometimes it just doesn't pan out like I want it to, but so [00:28:00] far so good, so.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah.
Hurry to Murray Origin
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Lauren Sneary: So as a, a communications professional, there's something that you guys have that I think is just so compelling, and that is, like, a true slogan that is so fun to repeat.
You said it, you s- kind of snuck it in earlier, but let's, let's stay with that for a minute, and that is, and you tell it to probably every time I leave the Murray County Chamber of Commerce, you say, "Hurry to Murray." So is that something that you guys use just kind of in general conversation? Like, how did the slogan come about, and where do you use it?
'Cause it's so apt, right? You want people to hurry to Murray.
Barry Gentry: I do, and I, have to s- I did steal it.
Lauren Sneary: Oh, did you?
Barry Gentry: I did. I had this sweet young girl, her name is Heather Owens. Well, young lady. She's a mother and a wife now. But when I came to Murray, she was answering the phone, and then she started telling me, "I wish I could blah, blah, blah.
I wish I c- " I said, "Well, let's do that." And what she wanted to do was create logos. I said, "Show me what you got." It was fantastic. And she started, you know, got a Canva account. I know that's elementary, but it's still-
Erika Mosteller: You can do a lot of stuff- ..
with Canva, yeah. [00:29:00]
Barry Gentry: So she got on Canva, and she started building all these logos.
I created about 20 programs when I moved to the chamber. People hated me or they loved me, so. So she started, and I said, "Now I want everybody to, to record an interesting message on your, your voicemails." I said, "I don't want this crazy 'Hi, this is blah blah.' I hate that. Give something, something people are gonna remember." So she said, "I left one. You wanna hear it?" She was, she was so sweet. I said, "Yeah." She said, "Hi, this is Heather. Hurry to Murray." I said, "Ooh, I'm glad I thought of that."
Lauren Sneary: Oh my God. All right, shout out Heather.
Barry Gentry: So Heather Owens, who h- She and her husband, Dakota Owens, now have a greenhouse that you can go pick your own vegetables- your flowers. It's called Rising Farms.
Lauren Sneary: Rising Farms.
Barry Gentry: Y'all need to go. It... That's my sweet little Heather. I- I helped raise her, I say. But no, I stole it from her.
Is she in
Erika Mosteller: Murray County?
Barry Gentry: Yes.
Erika Mosteller: Okay.
Barry Gentry: And she's from Murray. So I said, "Can I, can I steal that?" 'Cause I wanna put that o- as our tag. And she said, "Yeah, let's go." [00:30:00] So that's where Hurry to Murray came from.
Lauren Sneary: That's cool. So. awesome.
Barry Gentry: Yeah.
Lauren Sneary: I love it.
Barry Gentry: And I, I said, "Is this cheesy?" I said... Everybody's like, "No." And I use it in DC, I use it in Atlanta. I use it every event.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: It's memorable ...
Barry Gentry: I think so. And now when I see, you know, people's... that aren't chamber members tagging that, I'm like, "Wait a minute."
Lauren Sneary: You better hurry on over here. That's great. Yeah.
Barry Gentry: That's gonna cost ya. But anyway, it, it worked. And I think, you know, if it's something that people remember, that, it just benefits your community, so.
Erika Mosteller: We our July issue is about to drop next week for Here Dalton, and one of the pages that we created in that magazine is just to help people focus on shopping local.
And when I did the research for that, I had heard it before, but it was still pretty sobering. You know, the research shows that if you spend $100 locally with a local business, then about 60, maybe even- $70 of that money stays local.
Barry Gentry: Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: Because those people are gonna go spend it at other businesses, or they're gonna donate it to a kids' soccer team, or they're gonna sponsor an event or [00:31:00] whatever it might be. Whereas if you spend at a national business, which we love national businesses, we're thankful for them but you've gotta have that balance. But, you know, the... I think it's like 10 or $15 stays in the community. I mean, that's a big difference. So, I love how much y'all champion shopping local and helping local businesses survive and That's obviously what we do too.
Yeah.
Build for the Youth
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Erika Mosteller: Loving where you live shapes who you are, and just having the right lens to love where your feet are.
Barry Gentry: And I always say, you know, there's, there's naysayers and, and that's very f- but Spencer says it's 1% of 100, 'cause-
Erika Mosteller: They're just loud, though ...
Barry Gentry: They're loud.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah, that's it.
Barry Gentry: And just probably miserable and unattractive. But anyway, so I think, you know what? If you don't wanna build it for yourself, let's build it for the students, and let's build it for those that are graduating that's gonna go away and think they're never gonna come back. Let's give them something to come back home for. And you can be a boomerang, but when you come back, we're gonna have stuff waiting for you.
It's not gonna be a ghost town.
Erika Mosteller: Right.
Barry Gentry: And nothing against what Murray was. I, I respect the past while I'm building the future, and I just think if [00:32:00] they want to sustain as a community, as a county, you gotta create something for everyone, and you cannot, omit your youth. Your young people.
You gotta give them a seat at the table. I don't care if it's a board at a chamber. I don't care how seasoned your board members are. You better put somebody young in there, and they're hungry, and they just, they just want to be heard, so.
Lauren Sneary: And they have great ideas.
Barry Gentry: They have wonderful ideas, and they know how to do technology that I don't have to mess with it.
So-
Lauren Sneary: And you can do both, by the way, right? You can.
Barry Gentry: You can
Lauren Sneary: respect legacy. You can bring-
Barry Gentry: Yes ...
Lauren Sneary: the past and all the richness of the history of the area- into what you're building for the future.
Barry Gentry: You sure can.
Lauren Sneary: And you guys are doing that so beautifully.
Barry Gentry: It's a great mesh, You know, I hate to give him too much credit, but Spencer he just- He's not afraid to argue with me or debate, I guess, because sometimes I think I know best, but then I listened and I'm like, "Ugh, good idea."
So you know. but you don't have to have a festival every week or every other week to make your community great. [00:33:00] And I know you guys have great things during the summertime, and that's fabulous. But people in Murray worry about that. We don't have, you know, the Burr Park stuff that Dalton's doing.
I said, "Well, we're building."
and when we get built up enough. Those things will just fall into place. Yeah. You gotta, you gotta identify your workers, a lot of people want things to happen, but they don't wanna volunteer on a Saturday or after 5:00 or a Sunday. We gotta find those nuggets.
And y- as you build, they, they start showing up.
Lauren Sneary: That's right.
Barry Gentry: So I'm excited about that.
Teardrop Marathon Boost
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Barry Gentry: And we just, if I could give a plug too, we have a marathon, it's called the Teardrop, and they run down Fort Mountain.
Erika Mosteller: Oh, interesting. I don't think I realized y'all had a marathon.
Lauren Sneary: My knees could never.
Erika Mosteller: Oh, gosh, I know.
That sounds really painful. Ooh,
Barry Gentry: I would never. I like I said, I honestly would not.
Erika Mosteller: We need to let Seoul Running Club know about that one. They were on our podcast.
Lauren Sneary: I bet they do know.
Erika Mosteller: They probably know.
Barry Gentry: Oh. Well, there's, They had 600 this year. Oh,
Erika Mosteller: Wow.
Barry Gentry: And this is-
Erika Mosteller: 600 runners?
Barry Gentry: Yeah. This is the first time that they've been able to come downtown and spend money. I asked the coffee shop to be open on a Sunday. I asked Crown to be open on a Sunday. [00:34:00] And our Ninjas, our sushi place, yes, Chatsworth Sushi, that's correct to be open. And they called me on Monday, 'cause I thought, "Oh dear," 'cause if it didn't work- I'm gonna hear about it. If it did work, I won't hear about it.
But I was wrong. They called and said, "We had a terrific sales day."
Lauren Sneary: Oh, that's awesome. That's the best.
Barry Gentry: So- now that's built.
Lauren Sneary: Man, I love stories like that. Yeah.
Barry Gentry: It felt good. And the guy that's over the um, Teardrop, he's, uh, Atlanta, so he's like you, he's very bougie.
Lauren Sneary: Oh, we're gonna fight about that
Barry Gentry: Did I say that?
Did I say that yet? He came up Thursday-
Lauren Sneary: I'm getting a lawyer.
Barry Gentry: Oh, please. He came up Thursday and attended our event-
Erika Mosteller: Oh, that's great
Lauren Sneary: Oh, that's awesome ...
Barry Gentry: because of how Murray welcomed him this year.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah, yeah.
Barry Gentry: And I said, "Well, it just takes time." The guy that told me economic development, he said, "Barry, you're kind of like a overnight, need it done fast kinda guy." I said, "Yeah." He said, "Well, it's not gonna happen that way." He said, "The conversations we're having right now, you may see it come to fruition three, four years." And I was like, [00:35:00] "No, that cannot..." Well-
Erika Mosteller: He was right.
Barry Gentry: He was right.
Erika Mosteller: Right.
Barry Gentry: And so I've learned you go into a conversation, you go into a project, and you know you build slow and sure.
So it's true. So someone's saying, "I thought we were doing, getting ABC." Well, we are, but you will not see it for three years. Gotta build it. Two years. Yep. Four years. Like Advent, you know, they'll be cutting the ribbon in September. They announced that, so I'm not telling the secrets away.
Lauren Sneary: Okay, perfect.
Erika Mosteller: Yes, I saw your video. You did a great job.
Barry Gentry: Oh, thank you.
Erika Mosteller: You got Hurry to Murray in the video, too.
Barry Gentry: I had to. I had to.
Erika Mosteller: Or you said Advent's hurrying to Murray.
I think you said.
Barry Gentry: I did, yeah.
Erika Mosteller: I was like, "Wait a minute."
Barry Gentry: You know, and I get so nervous, but I s- I gotta throw that stuff in there.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah, you gotta do it.
Barry Gentry: And um, that, like I said, it's gonna be just a huge tool for us. And so, I have to be careful, too, because I have to give the l- same love to Hamilton. Vitruvian. Bec- I love 'em both, they're fun.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah, they're both making big investments-
Barry Gentry: Oh, my gosh
Erika Mosteller: ... in Murray County.
Barry Gentry: They both keep me on a slippery slope. So, but it's, it's a learning curve.
Fall Festivals Fundraisers
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Lauren Sneary: Well, you mentioned the run, but, and one of the other questions we had for you was any [00:36:00] other kind of upcoming events that you wanted to plug or make sure that folks in our listener pool, right, might wanna come over from Dalton to, to see or participate in in Murray.
Maybe the Black Bear Festival's coming up.
Barry Gentry: You, you know me very well, don't you?
Lauren Sneary: Yeah, I thought you might wanna share.
Barry Gentry: That was so sweet of you. Yeah, the Black Bear Festival's the third weekend in October. And prior to that, we have a little thing called Dancing with the Murray Stars.
Lauren Sneary: That's right.
Barry Gentry: That's September 26th.
Erika Mosteller: Are y'all doing it at the convention center again?
Barry Gentry: Yeah, because we have no place big enough- in Murray yet.
Erika Mosteller: Yet, that's right.
Barry Gentry: Three to five years. Yeah, there you go. We have talked to some people, and they're willing to maybe perhaps donate the land to build the actual facility on.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Barry Gentry: But facilities have to be managed. They have to be kept up. So before I say-
Erika Mosteller: Yeah, there's a sustainability factor.
there.
Barry Gentry: Yeah, and that's expensive. So before I say yes to too many things, I'm like, "Ooh, let me factor in what that's really gonna cost." Yeah. Because there's no free lunch. But that's, that would be great for us.
But yeah, we do, Dalton Trade Center's so nice to us. You show up, everything's set up, and you leave, and you don't have to worry about breaking [00:37:00] down.
So we, we we love them.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah, that's- good.
Barry Gentry: So we're looking, we're looking for stars right now.
Erika Mosteller: Awesome. Lauren?
Lauren Sneary: Nope. Nope, nope, nope. There, I can do a lot of things, but dancing's definitely not one of them.
Erika Mosteller: Oh, I don't know, Barry
Barry Gentry: You have the Murray connection
Erika Mosteller: It's true, I do have the Murray connection
Barry Gentry: You sure do
Lauren Sneary: She didn't say outright no, so I think we could make some progress on that
Barry Gentry: And I, I'm all about blackmail and bribery
Lauren Sneary: Oh, gosh
Barry Gentry: Well, you know, Haley-
Erika Mosteller: Blackmail ... You have
something on me, Barry?
Barry Gentry: Haley's in the show.
Lauren Sneary: Oh, I know
Barry Gentry: Your Haley's in the show
Lauren Sneary: I know. You know I'm gonna be out of town that weekend. I, somebody, somebody has to video it. I'm-
Barry Gentry: We'll make sure ...
Lauren Sneary: cheering her on from a distance. She is the best
Barry Gentry: Yeah, she's great. And we have four confirmed so far
Erika Mosteller: That's great
Barry Gentry: Three ladies and one gentleman.
Lauren Sneary: This is your fundraiser for
Barry Gentry: We get the ticket sales because, you know, it's on our bu- it's our budget item. So, but everybody there picks their own charity, and that charity gets 100% of the funds that they raise. So last year a lady who runs a ranch for handicapped children, called Broken Heart Ranch
Erika Mosteller: It's, it's Broken...
Yes.
Barry Gentry: Yes.
Erika Mosteller: A broken something.
Barry Gentry: She raised [00:38:00] 35,000.
Erika Mosteller: Wow.
Barry Gentry: And then Wendy Connor, who's at Biltwell Bank, raised 25,000 for a similar ranch
Erika Mosteller: That's incredible. Wow.
Barry Gentry: Yeah. And it's hard work. I mean, ...some people says, "Is it hard?" Absolutely. Yeah. The dancing, not so much.
Erika Mosteller: fundraising.
Barry Gentry: It's the fundraising. Right.
Erika Mosteller: We have such a generous community.
Barry Gentry: We do.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah. Across northwest Georgia.
Barry Gentry: Yes.
Erika Mosteller: Which is just a gift. It's really neat.
Regional Partnerships Daycations
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Barry Gentry: And I want to give you guys a plug, too. my chamber, I always, you know, building Murray, you want to like partner up and look and attend and just share with other communities, but you really can't while you're building.
So thank you guys for just loving Murray, you know, 'cause it's showing, oh look, the, we can get along- ...just fine and we both succeed, and we can both hit the same mark. And John Fuchko's really good about that too. He tries to create too many committees for me to be on. So sometimes I delete.
But anyway, but I love that if I could, I would put a little tagline, a Northwest Georgia chamber- under Murray.
Or Northwest Georgia partner [00:39:00] chamber. Yeah. And I think that might be something we should look to.
Lauren Sneary: It, it's that old cliche, a rising tide floats all boats.
Barry Gentry: It does.
Lauren Sneary: And it is so true in our region.
Erika Mosteller: And it's been interesting to us, so our page in our magazine is which we'll do it for the Murray County one as well, and probably pull in some of your other neighboring counties, but, you know, we do a near here page where we look at Ringgold and Chatsworth and Gordon County,
Lauren Sneary: Even some Chattanooga.
Erika Mosteller: Sometimes- Chattanooga, if it's like a bigger event. And the response that we've gotten from these people who are just 15, 20 minutes away from us, that they're like, "Oh, thank you so much for including us. You know, we don't have to go far." "We can just get in the car and drive 20 minutes and go to a neighboring community and find a whole new adventure."
Barry Gentry: Absolutely.
Erika Mosteller: And so I love that we have that in Murray County, we have that in Gordon County, we have that in Catoosa County. It's just really, we're in a beautiful area of the country, so.
Barry Gentry: I love it, and I love staycations or a daycation. That you could just-
Erika Mosteller: Oh, a daycation.
Barry Gentry: A daycation.
Erika Mosteller: I like that. Yeah.
Barry Gentry: Well, I stole that too probably. Yeah.
Housing Growth Affordability
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Barry Gentry: But I teased, in Chattanooga actually, they called us this week [00:40:00] because they heard of what we're doing for our housing. In the next three to five years we'll have 1,000 new homes-
Erika Mosteller: Wow ...
Barry Gentry: in Murray County. Wow. Plus another LIHTC- development, which I'm excited about
Erika Mosteller: Which stands for low income housing tax credit.
Barry Gentry: Yeah. And people w- And sadly... Can I get a little political just real quick?
Erika Mosteller: Yes. Keep it clean, Barry.
Lauren Sneary: We can cut it out .
Barry Gentry: Oh, Lord, no. No, no. The low income, people shut down.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Barry Gentry: And that makes me so mad. So I said, "What can we do? Can we rename this, you know, whole thing?" They said, "Well, start out with Ronald Reagan supported-
blah, blah, I said, "Okay." But I would live in the LIHTC developments.
Erika Mosteller: Oh, they're beautiful.
Barry Gentry: Stunning.
Erika Mosteller: We have one coming to Dalton as well.
Barry Gentry: And, and I think that's great. So for your listeners-
Erika Mosteller: Well, housing affordability is a really difficult topic-
Barry Gentry: It's a, it's a thing ...
Erika Mosteller: across our country. Yes. So I'm thrilled that we have communities trying to figure it out.
Lauren Sneary: Taking action. Yeah. Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: They're like, "You know what? We want people to live here, but we have to make it to where they can afford it."
Barry Gentry: Yeah, I call it paycheck compatible.
So-
Erika Mosteller: I like that. That's good.
Barry Gentry: It, it's, it's not it's not bad- to say, "Hey, you know what? This is Murray County, this is Dalton, [00:41:00] this is whatever." don't forget what these folks are earning.
And you need to match, match that when you put that little for sale sign on that house. Yeah. And as you're building, quality, but make sure it's, you know, attainable.
Because they can build them all day long, if people can't buy them, they're just gonna sit there and, you know, decay
Lauren Sneary: Right.
Barry Gentry: But there's a lot, there's so much to do. But as the Chattanooga folks heard about the housing that we're doing, and they called and was just picking our brain.
Erika Mosteller: That's awesome.
Barry Gentry: So that feels good.
You know? So, uh- Yeah I'm always pleasantly surprised when something works.
Erika Mosteller: Right.
Barry Gentry: You know? And it's like, oh, I didn't have to work real hard for that. But it, it feels good.
Whats Next-
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Barry Gentry: I was almost running late today 'cause me and Spencer were measuring and figuring out... Somebody wants to buy another building. So we were like, "Well, how's this gonna work?" And figure it out, and if we can't, we'll find somebody that can.
So, every time you come to Murray, you might see a brand-new something.
Lauren Sneary: I know. You guys always have something in the works. I know.
Barry Gentry: It's, it's fun.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah.
Barry Gentry: There is, uh... well, just come and see.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Barry Gentry: Maybe our next time that you're ... If you ever allow me back- we'll do, we'll do, we'll do a [00:42:00] continuation of things that are coming to Murray County, Yeah. So, But,
Erika Mosteller: Well, thank you so much for-
Barry Gentry: It's been a joy ...
Erika Mosteller: being here and talking to us about your vision and Murray County and opportunities there, and also just the opportunity to make the place that we live better. I think we can all take that lesson.
Barry Gentry: Well you both are you, you were strangers, and now you're friends, so thank you very much, and I'm so glad you hurried to Murray.
Lauren Sneary: Absolutely. We'll do it again soon. We will. Thanks, Barry.
Barry Gentry: Thank you.