Oct 1, 2026 · 1 hr 6 min · 12 segments
Can Jackson turn itself around? Wyatt Emmerich sits down with urban revitalization strategist Josh McManus to explore what Jackson can learn from the remarkable comebacks of cities like Chattanooga…
Yeah, it's an amazing story, and, uh, it's great that you have a track record of that.
This whole Jackson Rising thing, I mean, I'm flabbergasted by what a phenomenal effort that was.
So it, um, you know, born out of a very simple problem, which is you had administration change, and when the administration change happened, um, you had some, as, as has been the case in the other places I've worked, uh, Detroit, Akron, Chattanooga, sometimes, you know, corporations and foundations say, "Okay, y'all are in a time of change.
Is there any way that we could help?" Um, when those people ask how they can help, they don't just like willy-nilly write checks.
They are looking for investable ideas, shovel-ready projects, and we didn't have those sitting on a shelf in Jackson somewhere.
So rather than what happens in a lot of places, which is, you know, one or two people go and try to write up whatever their imagination of the future is, there was another i- instinct that came about, and that instinct was, "Let's get as many people who- as will show up to create these investable ideas."
She's incredibly persistent, and then she followed an each one, reach one methodology, which is these list of, you know, list of who's who in Jackson, they don't exist.
So she just started, you know, saying, "All right, well, who, who's, uh, who's involved in blight?" And then she'd call them and be like, "Do you wanna come to this meeting?" Then she'd say, "Well, who else should be here at that meeting?" And then we'd have that meeting and I'd say, "Hey, who else is not at the table that should be?" And that's how it grew.
Um, and I will say in hindsight, you know, the, the, what we did wrong is, um, we went fast and I think there was at least 300 more people that wanted to participate.
So the only friction we've had is from the folks that we didn't find that wanna be in the mix.
Yeah, it's an amazing story, and, uh, it's great that you have a track record of that.
This whole Jackson Rising thing, I mean, I'm flabbergasted by what a phenomenal effort that was.
So it, um, you know, born out of a very simple problem, which is you had administration change, and when the administration change happened, um, you had some, as, as has been the case in the other places I've worked, uh, Detroit, Akron, Chattanooga, sometimes, you know, corporations and foundations say, "Okay, y'all are in a time of change.
Is there any way that we could help?" Um, when those people ask how they can help, they don't just like willy-nilly write checks.
They are looking for investable ideas, shovel-ready projects, and we didn't have those sitting on a shelf in Jackson somewhere.
So rather than what happens in a lot of places, which is, you know, one or two people go and try to write up whatever their imagination of the future is, there was another i- instinct that came about, and that instinct was, "Let's get as many people who- as will show up to create these investable ideas."
She's incredibly persistent, and then she followed an each one, reach one methodology, which is these list of, you know, list of who's who in Jackson, they don't exist.
So she just started, you know, saying, "All right, well, who, who's, uh, who's involved in blight?" And then she'd call them and be like, "Do you wanna come to this meeting?" Then she'd say, "Well, who else should be here at that meeting?" And then we'd have that meeting and I'd say, "Hey, who else is not at the table that should be?" And that's how it grew.
Um, and I will say in hindsight, you know, the, the, what we did wrong is, um, we went fast and I think there was at least 300 more people that wanted to participate.
So the only friction we've had is from the folks that we didn't find that wanna be in the mix.
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