Thursday, January 9, 2025–11:00 a.m.
-David Crowder, WRGA News-
Suzanne Roberts has been named Rome’s new director of downtown development.
Roberts is currently the director of membership for the Rome-Floyd County Chamber of Commerce. She will begin her new job as DDA director on January 21. Kelley Ledford, assistant to the Rome city manager, introduced Roberts during Thursday’s Downtown Development Authority meeting.
“When we were looking for someone with experience in downtown development and Main Street, she fell right into our laps,” Ledford said. “She has had quite a bit of experience. We reached out to references and she came extremely, highly recommended.”
Roberts has also served as director of operations for the chamber. Before that she was the City of Calhoun’s downtown development authority director for nearly 10 years from June of 2015 to January of 2024.
“I am definitely looking forward to it, and I love downtowns,” Roberts told the DDA. “I have a huge passion for downtowns and I think they are great. I have a big heart for them. I’m just really excited and looking forward to it.”
Roberts is a member of class 42 of Leadership Rome, a graduate of the Level 1 Georgia Downtown Association program, a member and graduate of the Georgia Academy for Economic Development, and the 2023 Georgia Downtown Association Best Adaptive Reuse Award winner. Although she has not been involved in downtown for the last couple of years, she was asked to stay on the Georgia Downtown Association Board.
“She still has all those contacts and the ability to reach out to folks,” Ledford added. “One of the best things I heard from everyone that I spoke with about Suzanne that HR reached out to was her ability to build relationships. That was very impressive and exciting because you know as well as I do that is a big part of being downtown. We need good relationships continuing.”
As director, Roberts will be responsible for planning, marketing, and implementing downtown development within the central business district. The director is a city employee and works with the Downtown Development Authority to implement program objectives, such as community education, formulation of policies, and the development of marketing strategies for those areas.
Roberts replaces Aundi Lesley, who started her job as economic development director for the City of Canton in November.
