Our Team

Corey Johns, CEcD

Executive Director

Corey R. Johns came to the Joint Economic & Community Development Board of Wilson County in January 2023. Mr. John’s responsibilities include new business marketing and prospecting to attract new business and industry to Wilson County. He also works with business leaders to retain and expand economic development opportunities within the County. Mr. Johns is the main point of contact for recruitment efforts of the office.

Mr. Johns is a resident of Wilson County, Tennessee and an International Economic Development Council (IEDC) Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) with over fifteen years of proven leadership in a variety of diverse economic development roles ranging from the local level, to statewide, to a multi-state portfolio.

He most recently served as Director of Business Development for the Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development (TNECD) and the Tennessee Entertainment Commission (TEC).  In this role he led the development & implementation of the State’s 1st strategic initiative targeting the rapidly-growing Digital Media and Creative Technology industry cluster.

Prior to joining TNECD, Johns spent over half a decade in technology-led economic development launching and leading state broadband initiatives for multiple states, including Tennessee as Executive Director for Connected Tennessee. 

Mr. Johns began his economic development career in one of the Southeast’s most dynamic tourism and entertainment communities as Special Projects Manager for the Sevier County Economic Development Council (SCEDC).  There, he supported industrial and advanced manufacturing recruitment, business retention and expansion efforts, planned and secured grant funding for a county-wide workforce development study, and grew an innovative primary healthcare program for retail & hospitality employees.

He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and completed a Master of Public Administration. He is also a graduate of the University of Oklahoma’s Economic Development Institute (EDI). Corey is the father of two school-aged boys who attend Wilson County Schools and is active at his local church.

Tammy Stokes

Assistant Director

Tammy has been with the JECDB since June 2000.  She assists on all activities related to the Economic Development functions of the organization.  Her responsibilities also include implementing electronic marketing materials, maintaining the website, maintaining the site inventory database and assisting on responses to RFIs.

She is a licensed Tennessee State Notary and is a member of the International Economic Development Council, Tennessee Economic Development Council and the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Tammy grew up in Louisiana, Missouri and moved to Wilson County in 1999.  She obtained her Office Systems Technologies certification from Pike/Lincoln Technical Center.  She is currently working towards her Certified Economic Developer certification and has also obtained the Introduction to ArcGIS I, Introduction to ArcGIS II and the Fundamentals of ArcGIS Desktop certifications through ESRI.

Ms. Stokes resides in Lebanon and has two grown children.  Her daughter Brooke works and resides in Lebanon while her son Michael works in Mt. Juliet and lives just up the road in Sumner County.  Her first grandchild was born in the Fall of 2022.