Less than 24 hours of becoming a private citizen next Monday, Asbury Park Mayor Ed Johnson will be launching a new initiative. His new venture is called 'Ed Johnson Asbury Park - Community Resource Management'.

Asbury Park Mayor Ed Johnson with President Obama during Obama's recent visit
Asbury Park Mayor Ed Johnson with President Obama during Obama's recent visit (EdJohnsonAsburyPark.com)
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Johnson says his experience as an Educational Administrator, Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ) Chairman, Councilman and Mayor gives him expertise and credibility to bring people he's worked with back to the table to continue to grow Asbury Park and other communities.

 

 

 

Johnson says he's not building a giant IBM "I'm building an network of consultants and experts, people who have a passion about what they do, who care about their community and who've been involved. You know, I have a long list of contacts that I've worked with over the past thirty years with some fantastic people that were involved because they cared. It just wasn't a career. It was their passion. So, to be able to bring those people together for all of us to work together and take different parts of projects, is pretty much how we're going to do this."

Johnson says it's an original creative idea that brings together all of his accumulated knowledge, experience, ideas and passions to help people build better lives and better communities. "Because what we did in Asbury Park can be replicated in other areas and across this country and across the world. He says there are small towns that are looking to rebuild, renew and do exactly what Asbury Park did."

Johnson says he has an international project coming up this fall and he talks of cultural international exchanges with Italy and the University of Amsterdam and he says there are some local projects as well. "You know as Mayor I receive telephone calls from all over the country and from other nations asking me about parking and about community-based development and public safety and trying to deal with the youth and gang problems. So, you know there's a lot of opportunity out there."

Johnson believes economic growth doesn't hinge on big box retail, citing their absence in Asbury Park's renaissance. He believes small 'Mom and Pop' operations hold the key to local economic turnaround as they hire local residents.

Get the details at edjohnsonasburypark.com

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