CENTRE — There's about to be a new mayor in town and ideas for moving things forward have already begun to flow, even though he won't take office for almost six weeks.

Current Centre City Councilman Tony Wilkie defeated incumbent Phil Powell in the Aug. 28 municipal election. Wilkie and several council members are scheduled to be sworn in before their first meeting in November.

Wilkie said he envisions the next four years as a time of expansion and industrial recruitment for the city, as well as the entire county.

“Progress is not just going to fall into our laps,” he said.

Wilkie said he has every intention of sitting down with business leaders who may be interested in bringing manufacturing facilities and good-paying jobs to the area and convincing them of reasons why they should.

“I want to tell them about Centre and what we have to offer,” he said.

Wilkie said industrial recruitment is important because many young people are forced to leave Cherokee County and seek better-paying jobs in other parts of the state after graduating.

“We want those graduates back in our city and county,” he said. “For years, when kids graduated they had to leave to find work. My goal is to have the people who graduate here return here to raise their families.”

Wilkie said he wants to give young people a choice they do not have now -- to stay here in Cherokee County.

“I don't want to become a Birmingham or Atlanta, but there is no reason why we can't do that for them.”

Wilkie said one of the positive aspects of the city is sound economic policy. He said he plans to continue to operate under those policies as mayor.

“Looking at the budgets and the audits, the city is able to manage its funds in a very positive way,” said Wilkie. “Many cities can't do that and we're fortunate that we have a good tax base.”

Wilkie said he has plans to try and expand the city's tax base.

“As many fishermen as we have who come in here every year to the 'Crappie Capital of the World,' we should enhance efforts to make sure we continue to have that resource to draw from,” he said. “With the new motels that are going up around town, we have the capacity to bring more and more people into our city and we have to find ways to do that.”

Wilkie said he has been impressed with the efforts of the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce top draw tourists to the area and looks forward to getting the city more involved.

“I want to go all those boats shows that Thereasa Hulgan and the people at the Chamber attend every year, to show personal support,” Wilkie said. “I want to shake hands with those fisherman and say, 'Bring your family, vacation with us.'”

Wilkie said he has a list of priorities, including making sure the city's water and sewer infrastructure will be ready to support whatever new businesses or industries he and the city council are able to recruit.

“I have already talked with Roy Alford at the water department and asked him for a copy of their water grids,” Wilkie said. “If we have some growing pains it will give the water department growing pains and I want to make sure we have an open road of communication so we can all work together.”

Wilkie said he would also like to begin a program of downtown revitalization that would enhance business and shopping opportunities along Main Street.

“When we bring tourists in to visit our cities and towns, we need to make sure everything is as clean as possible,” he said. “There are areas that we can make more pleasing to the eye and there is grant money available to help us do that.”

Wilkie said he is proud of the recent advances the fire department has made in equipment and training and also hopes to enhance the services the Centre Police Department can provide to residents.

“We recently put video cameras in each patrol car, which is a big plus,” he said. “And we want to give them the other tools they need to do their jobs efficiently.”