Meet James Fritze: NewTown Macon’s President and CEO

President/CEO, James Fritze, says "This is an opportunity of a lifetime for me. And it's something that I've really, you know, kind of bittersweet, but I'm looking forward to it."

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – NewTown Macon is working through a transition in leadership after the death of former President/CEO, Josh Rogers, who passed away last month.

Rogers became President and CEO of NewTown Macon in April of 2014.

On December 11, NewTown Macon announced the new President/CEO as James Fritze.

Fritze served as NewTown’s chief financial officer since 2018. Fritze has helped structure transformative development projects like Hotel Forty Five and the soon-to-be-completed Neel’s Lofts. He manages a $4 million annual budget and oversees more than $45 million in assets, including NewTown’s loan program.

41NBC’s Monica Diaz-Meek spoke with James Fritze about his new role at NewTown Macon.

MONICA: One of the key organizations fueling growth and community in Downtown Macon is working through a transition in leadership. Newtown Macon’s President and CEO, Josh Rogers, passed away unexpectedly last month. And last night, James Fritze, was appointed to fill that role. He joins us now as the new President and CEO. I want to say thank you for being here today.

JAMES: Oh, thank you for having us. We always love to talk about downtown.

MONICA: I’m excited. There’s a lot of growth happening with NewTown Macon. So we want to get to know Mr. Fritze a little more. So first off, I have a few questions for you. You’re coming into this role, this leadership role, unexpectedly. How are you planning to continue the work of NewTown Macon and to carry out the vision of Mr. Rogers?

JAMES: Yeah, NewTown is a is a really interesting organization, and we work off a strategic plan. And the strategic plan is a five year plan. And it stems from our mission, which is to invest money, resources in the people of downtown Macon. We’re a very locally, oriented company. And so we will continue that. We’re halfway through our strategic plan. So we have a real sense of urgency to keep working that plan. Our plans are very specific. Like, for example, they were supposed to add 600 new housing units in this five year period. And so we track this stuff with with great detail. So, like I said, we have a sense of urgency to keep to keep working toward this plan.

MONICA: You’ve been working with NewTown Macon for quite some time. Tell us more about your background with NewTown and other professional experiences that you’ve had that have helped you step into this new role as president and CEO?

JAMES: Sure. I’ve worked with NewTown for almost seven years. Josh hired me in 2018 to serve as the Chief Financial Officer, and so he and I have worked really closely over the past six and a half, seven years. NewTown does a lot of development work. We were part of the hotel 45, a part of the Neel’s Loft project. So, Josh and I worked really closely. So I think that’s helped prepare me for this role, as well as, you know, I’m a classically trained accountant. I still have an active CPA certificate for people that find that stuff interesting. But we, you know, just over the course of life, have spent a lot of time doing development work, a lot of time running businesses, starting businesses. And so, you know, we also do a lot of coaching with folks. And so I just think that, you know, this is an opportunity of a lifetime for me. And it’s something that I’ve really, you know, kind of bittersweet, but I’m looking forward to it.

MONICA: What are your goals as we step into the new year, into 2025? What can we expect to see from NewTown Macon?

JAMES: Well, right now we’re in the middle of Neel’s Lofts. That’s the first new build in town in decades. And so we’re really excited about that. That’s about a year out. We’ll get that finished. So that’s going to bring probably 150 new residents to downtown. Plus we’re going to do,  kind of like a food court with an incubator in it. So, all the little restaurants that can’t really afford a big space will be able to start their own little businesses in there. So we have a lot of projects like that on the in the pipeline. So it’s going to be an exciting year.

MONICA: Lastly, if there’s one thing you want people to know about the work that the folks are doing in NewTown Macon, what would that be? What do you want people to know about what you guys are doing?

JAMES: You know, NewTown is a really strong organization. The colleagues that work inside NewTown are phenomenal folks. Everybody’s tenured and everybody’s very passionate about it. But it’s not just us. You know, we work with the county and we work with Visit Macon. We work with the Chamber, we work with the industrial authority. We work with a lot of folks, work with the downtown merchants. I mean, we’ve created this really nice ecosystem where we kind of all collaborate. We kind of trust each other. And we’re all trying to lift not only, you know, Macon, but Maconites up.

MONICA: Alright. And lastly, what do you want people to know? What do you want to leave people with? Is there anything you want to say to the community?

JAMES: You know, we’re I mean, we are heart sick with the loss of Josh. He was a generational visionary guy who had the charisma to convince folks that we could attain the unattainable. And so I think our message is we proved that we can do some of these things. And so we’re just going to keep doing it not only in his legacy, but for the Maconites.

MONICA: I look forward to seeing what you guys are going to do with NewTown Macon.