We're all growing together

By Randy Capps

When I was sitting in a hangar at Johnston Regional Airport a few weeks back, waiting for the press conference that led to the cover story in this month’s issue, I had an epiphany.

Well, maybe that’s a little overstated. I’ll just say that it occurred to me that Johnston County is a different place now than it was when I moved here back in 2008.

When Shanna and I chose Four Oaks off a map, there were about 80,000 people here. Things were quieter. The interstate wasn’t constantly under construction, McGee’s Crossroads had more farms than fast food restaurants and life generally moved a little more slowly.

We were different, too. We were the parents of a first grader, and the Four Oaks Journal and Johnston Now magazine were still just figments of our imaginations.

It was hard to imagine just how much our lives would change in the next 15 years. We raised Ethan here, started a business and, in the process, lived here longer than we’ve ever lived anywhere else.

As our lives have changed, the county has as well. There are more like 210,000 people here now, and it seems that almost all of them drive down Cleveland Road at some point during the work week.

The secret is out. Johnston County is a great place to work and live. And it’s up to us to make sure it stays that way.

Maybe that was the epiphany.