Grady has passion for planning

Courtesy photograph
Jessica Grady with husband Christopher Grady and three grown children, Nathaniel Ferguson and his wife, Sarah, and her daughters Katelyn and Lindsey Ferguson.
Courtesy photograph Jessica Grady with husband Christopher Grady and three grown children, Nathaniel Ferguson and his wife, Sarah, and her daughters Katelyn and Lindsey Ferguson.

Jessica Grady began as Planning Director Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023.

Although she'll be a new face in City Hall, she is not new to Pea Ridge. She and her husband live in Standing Oaks and her parents have lived here.

Grady has most recently served as the assistant to Little Flock Mayor Jeff Van Sickler and as the Planning Commission secretary for Little Flock from May to December 2022. She was the office administrator and Planning Commission secretary from August 2017 until May 2022, and worked with Comfort Keepers from 2015 to 2017.

She is certified with Arkansas State Planning Official certification through the Arkansas Public Administration Consortium, School of Public Affairs, University of Arkansas; is a notary public with the state and earned a bachelor of science in education with focus in human resource and workforce development through the UofA.

She will basically run the planning department and will be the liaison for the city on Planning Commission. She said she'll help implement the comprehensive plan, oversee the plans that the city wants to see, learn what the public wants to see for the city and make sure all those plans align with codes, ordinances, regulations.

Interestingly, Grady did not start her career seeking a position in planning.

"It sort of fell in my lap," she said. "I've grown up in northwest Arkansas since about 1990. I graduated Rogers public schools in 2001 and graduated from the UofA."

"I didn't have any government experience. I'd had admin," she said, explaining that she saw an opening available at Little Flock and the city clerk thought she'd be " a good fit," she said. "I'm so glad she took a chance on me."

In about 2015, Grady moved away for a couple of years and then returned. She said her parents bought a house in Standing Oaks in Pea Ridge and she later bought it.

"I'm so grateful for my opportunity I have had the last five years working with Little Flock and Mayor Van Sickler. I've enjoyed it," Grady said.

"My mind naturally gravitates towards planning. I'm always able to constantly look out and see the different growth -- see who's coming in, see the changes.

"I've always paid attention," she said, adding that even though she was working on planning in Little Flock, she was always "looking at what was going on in all the surrounding municipalities.

"I just naturally saw the growth -- it was neat to find that out about myself because so many times people have a plan in the past. They go to school, they'll figure out what they want their career to be and then they'll go out and do it.

"Mine's a litle bit different. My degree is in human resource and workforce development but all my job -- professional -- experience has been with planning, so when Pea Ridge gave me the opportunity as a planning director, I'm able to combine both of those," she said.

Grady said she has learned she has ancestors, relatives who worked at Harris Bakery, fought in the Battle of Pea Ridge, and has many connections to the area.

"I felt like Arkansas was my roots. I've never desired to live anywhere else," she said. "I've seen such a drastic change over last five years.

"There were a lot of people who moved to northwest Arkansas even during the pandemic. Not everybody wants to see a whole bunch of change, but there's got to be enough to support a growing community.

"Pea Ridge doesn't have to be the next Bentonville, the next Rogers, but we do have to evolve enough to maintain, to keep the living that we do want. What makes planning so interesting to me is how do you preserve the essence of a city while promoting purposeful, strategic growth?

"I think it's important to combine the two," Grady said.

"I look forward to working with Pea Ridge. I live in the community so have a invested interested," she said. "I have a passion for planning and I hope that I can be a good steward. Planning isn't about what I would want for the community, it's about helping foster what the community wants for itself. I just hope I'm a good representation."

Grady's mother, Kamie Thurman, is a member of the Pea Ridge Church of Christ.

She loves camping and hiking -- anything outdoors.

Grady's husband Christopher Grady, attended Pea Ridge schools years ago.

She has three grown children, Nathaniel Ferguson and his wife, Sarah, and her daughters Katelyn and Lindsey Ferguson.

photo Courtesy photograph Jessica Grady