Lisa Cookston, Main Street Greenwood's new executive director, begins work today with an eye on revitalizing downtown.
Cookston, 31, a native of Greenwood, is the third Main Street director. She replaces Ann Fann, who had held the position since May 1999. The first Main Street director was state Rep. May Whittington.
When Cookston heard Fann had resigned, she applied for the job, calling it "a perfect fit with my background."
"I'm real excited about the position and I want to keep building on what May and Ann have accomplished," she said.
With a 5-month-old daughter, Cookston said she was looking for a position that had a little more flexibility.
Cookston said she wants to generate enthusiasm about the city's downtown area. Boosting downtown involves economic development as well as historic preservation, Cookston said.
She said she sees a lot of potential for growth and wants to see people patronize the downtown restaurants, shops and other businesses.
"If downtown thrives, Greenwood will thrive," she said.
"I hope to increase membership and create an awareness of the assets we have down here."
Cookston also wants to educate the public about what Main Street stands for. She wants people to buy into the concept and support Main Street just as they do the Chamber of Commerce and other organizations that promote Greenwood.
"We'll never be a little Memphis or a little Jackson. We need to show people the quaintness of our town," she said.
Fann said Cookston has the knowledge to move Main Street forward.
"We had some very good candidates, and it was a very hard decision to make," Fann said.
"Lisa served on our executive board as vice president, and she is very knowledgeable about our current activities and goals as well as our strengths and weaknesses," Fann said.
Cookston graduated from Pillow Academy and the University of Mississippi, where she received a degree in English.
After she met her husband, Steven, the couple moved to Las Vegas, where they lived for two years while he worked for a law firm.
When they got the opportunity to move back to the South in 1998, they took it, Cookston said. "We wound up in Greenwood, which happened to be my hometown," she said.
Upon returning to Greenwood, Cookston worked for one year as lifestyles editor at the Commonwealth. She later took a job at Staplcotn as communications and public relations director.
