Quitman project earns state award

Posted 11/7/19

The Quitman Development Corporation (QDC) received the Texas Downtown Association’s ‘2019 Economic Game Changer Award” at the organizations awards ceremony Oct. 30 in Georgetown. The Shops at 107 was the focus of the award. 

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Quitman project earns state award

Posted

The Quitman Development Corporation (QDC) received the Texas Downtown Association’s ‘2019 Economic Game Changer Award” at the organizations awards ceremony Oct. 30 in Georgetown. The Shops at 107 was the focus of the award. 

The vision from this public/private partnership not only started the downtown revitalization in downtown Quitman but also has brought life to a once dying and almost abandoned county seat. 

The property located at 107 Lipscomb was once set for demolition and was completely gutted. That property is now home to a small business retail incubator, The Shops at 107, which has 15 individual retail vendors. 

Jamie Wyatt of Colonial Construction has led the reconstruction efforts in Quitman. “Recognition for such an award is a testament to the vision of Dr. Randal Bennett, president of the QDC; Denea Hudman, executive director of the QDC; J.R. Evans, former mayor of Quitman; and the QDC board members Kevan Burroughs, Martha Scroggins and several others had at the time the initial conversation began.” Wyatt said.

Hudman was excited about what has happened with the partnership. “When I heard that Jamie Wyatt was interested in doing our downtown revitalization, I could not believe it, especially after I saw all the work he had done in downtown Corsicana.” said Hudman. “I am just so honored that he believed in what we were doing and came to our little town and made such a huge investment. The dynamic change that Jamie’s work has done has changed our downtown for generations. It is hard to believe that we have been working on this project since the fall of 2015.”

Hudman said the project has been ongoing for years. “This project did not happen overnight, it took so many people who believed in what we were doing and working together. Our community met 20 years ago to plan for this time and in the last four years, some of those same people are still getting to see their plans come to fruition,” Hudman added.