New Canton Mayor Focuses On Public Service Over Politics

CANTON, GA — For the City of Canton's newest Mayor Bill Grant, his introduction into the city was nearly happenstance, but that didn't stop him from falling in love with the community almost immediately.

The new mayor's story starts in Dalton, Georgia where he was born and raised, and eventually moved back to after graduating from Berry College. After school he was offered a job from Shaw Industries, a carpet manufacturer, as a copy writer where he worked for five years before starting his own firm, Grant Design Collaborative, in 1989.

"I had more clients in Atlanta than Dalton, so I moved to Atlanta but kept the studio in Dalton because I had employees there," Grant said. "For a couple of years, I was driving back and forth between Atlanta and Dalton. One night, I had enough."

Grant, who had never been to Canton before, got off the exit at Interstate 75 and Interstate 20. He saw the sign to Canton, followed that road and ended up in Downtown Canton in front of the building he owns now. He operates his internationally recognized branding and marketing firm, Grant Design Collaborative, in the former Galt building in Downtown Canton.

"I just fell in love with Canton," Grant said. "There was a guy scraping paint off the building in downtown. I asked to look at the third flood and thought it was cool, so I asked to lease it. I moved in two weeks later in 1996. I say Canton picked me. I felt at home here instantly."

Things fell into place for Grant when he bought that building six months later, and eventually found his now house in a similar way. He saw a for sale sign outside a home in the East Main Street district, knocked on the door, toured the home and put an offer in.

Both his home and office building has received the Historic Preservation Award by the Cherokee County Historical Society.

"I love Canton, it's a great little town," Grant said. "Working downtown, I would work a lot of Saturdays. One Saturday I was downtown, and one of the only people there because when I moved here it was kind of a ghost town. I was walking, and saw a couple driving the wrong way down a street. They said they were looking for the shops and restaurants, and I said there weren't many there."

Inspired, Grant went back to his studio, and wrote the mayor at the time about needing an update to the downtown area.

"Of course, he said, 'great, we'll start a committee and you can chair it,'" Grant said.

From there, he researched the city, Main Street Program, and began revitalizing the area.

"We've come a long way since that time," Grant said.

He was inspired once again when he saw medical offices relocating to the city, so he helped form the Historic Canton Homeowners Association to challenge commercial development of East Main Street. It opened his eyes to local politics, and made him realize he should pay more attention to what happens at City Hall. He also worked to revitalize downtown Canton by helping start the Main Street program.

"I had just invested all this money in this home in this historic district, but things can change if we aren't all invested in it and taking care of it," Grant said. "I then got involved in politics, but I don't view it as politics, I view it as public service."

Grant was elected to the Canton City Council in 2013 and 2017 and also served as Mayor Pro Tem from 2014-2019. Grant was elected mayor of the city of Canton in 2019 for a four-year term, 2020-2023.

"I felt like the citizens shared my vision for what I wanted for Canton, which is really what they wanted which is what I was trying to run on," Grant said. "It's to keep the positive momentum we've started here. We've done a lot in downtown, we have our trails along the river that we're expanding, the Mill on Etowah, and a lot of new vitality in Canton."

Grant is proud to have saved multiple historic buildings around the city, some which now being used for spaces for the school board and law enforcement.

"We have the same issues as many other counties and cities around metro Atlanta, primarily the growth," he said. "With Cherokee County being one of the fastest growing counties in the state, we have to figure out how to manage that growth. Developers want to build and build quickly and profitably. It's not always in line with what the city may want. There are a lot of things we have to look at from the planning perspective. One of my main goals is to get out in front of the growth and be proactive."