MOULTRIE – Caroline Barber has been named the new Main Street manager for the City of Moultrie.

“I want to keep Moultrie heading in the right direction. … And my overall goal is to do what is best for the merchants,” Barber said.

Formerly, she served as the executive director of the Moultrie Convention and Visitors Bureau and had also served as the marketing specialist for the City of Moultrie.

“Hometown girl, moved away. I missed Moultrie, so I came back. Just wanted to help the community. I really enjoy helping with the events downtown,” she said.

Amy Johnson — who left the Main Street position to become president of the Moultrie-Colquitt County Development Authority — said, “Caroline is a great fit for the position. She loves this community, and it shows. Caring about the place you live is monumental when your job is to promote and assist in its development. Moultrie and Colquitt County’s future is bright, and Downtown Moultrie sits right in the heart of it all.”

Barber expressed excitement for her new role.

“There’s so much going on and we’re in such an upswing. There are so many business improvements and enhancements happening,” Barber said.

She said there weren’t many places downtown to rent anymore and the majority of downtown was full of businesses.

“We are prospering, we are thriving,” she said.

She said that she loved partnering with community organizations and bringing them downtown to participate in events like Second Saturday and Spring Fling and working together as a community. Barber also referenced a couple of events that organizations have held downtown like the NAMI Walk and Pink-Out Night for breast cancer awareness that have brought people into the area.

She said she wanted downtown to thrive and she wanted the merchants to succeed and to have good business and good customer interactions because customers were happy with the events that were going on downtown.

“Other people are coming into downtown. Not just us but everybody is utilizing downtown and it’s bringing everybody downtown. All walks of life from all over Moultrie,” Barber said and added that people came from all across Georgia and from Florida, too.

“We’re doing good,” she said.

Barber also said that there were some very exciting, new things on the horizon for Moultrie.

“I’m very excited for the two restaurants that are planning to open. I love seeing construction downtown because it means we’re moving forward,” she said.

She said the downtown businesses were also doing things like painting their buildings and some renovations.

“It’s just looking good. We’re shining,” she said and added that she was really impressed with the merchants. “The quality of their stuff is incredible. The customer service.”

Barber said people come into the Visitor’s and Tourism Center and she hears what they say about the merchants. She said they talk about how nice and polite the merchants are.

“Service with a smile,” she said.

She also said that the night life seemed to be coming back to downtown and more loft living was coming, as well.

“The more people you get downtown, to me, it impacts the whole community,” she said.

Barber said that she was looking forward to the 21st Annual Spring Fling and Backyard BBQ Festival, which will be April 18-19. She said that it was going to be a great event with a variety of vendors and activities.

She said that working in her previous positions with the City of Moultrie, alongside Johnson, had made her familiar with putting together downtown events like Spring Fling.

“I’m really excited. I’ve been planning events. I know the vendors, I know the merchants,” she said. “I’m honored to be here helping enhance downtown Moultrie and helping the merchants.”