Joe Filippone Retires As Montgomery County Development Authority Director

Joe Filippone, 85, retired as director of the Montgomery County Development Authority after 18 years with the authority.

Filippone claimed age as the primary reason for his departure, along with the stress of being treated like a politician while in a non-elected role.

“I believe in today’s world, there’s too many people that believe everybody, whether you’re an elected officer or you’re a paid employee, [has] responsibility to them as individuals, and most of the time, they will argue with you about stuff they don’t understand,” says Filippone.

Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Filippone was the only son of Sicillian immigrants, which placed responsibility and motivation on Filippone to excel. He also attributes his lifelong work ethic to growing up during and after World War II and the accompanying anti-Italian sentiments at the time.

“I used to say to myself, ‘I’ve got to be– I’ve got to perform, I’ve got to do better than the people around me, my peers, because I don’t want people to think we don’t love this country,’” says Filippone.

After high school, Filippone attended and graduated from Manhattan College in 1960, a Catholic university in New York City, while working at Stern’s Department Store selling men’s suits. He worked at the department store until he was 21, when he received a draft notice from the United States Army.

In response, Filippone enlisted in the U.S. Navy, where he served for 14 years as an officer. He resigned from the Navy Reserves in 1974 as a Lieutenant Commander.

Following his service, Filippone began his corporate career, first working at Honeywell Computer Systems before moving to the ITT Corporation to serve as a regional vice-president. He eventually co-founded his own business to assist other people in creating their own businesses.

In 2004, Filippone moved to Montgomery County to live closer to family, and in 2007, he was approached at the Mount Vernon Lions Club regarding the director position for the Montgomery County Development Authority. The Development Authority is funded by a mileage rate, which at the time amounted to a budget of approximately $60,000. 

According to Filippone, Montgomery County was severely lacking in infrastructure when he accepted the position. 

“I don’t want to make it sound like it was desolate, but it didn’t have much business activity at all,” says Filippone. “There was very, very little infrastructure in place, if any, to go out and compete with our neighbors.”

His primary goals starting out were to increase the number of jobs in the community and the amount of sales tax revenue generated by the county. On his first day in the position, Filippone was tasked with getting a business on a recently acquired seven acre plot of land in Ailey, Georgia. 

“They said, ‘We just got this land, it’s ready to go,’” says Filippone. “‘There’s no water and sewer, there’s no infrastructure in place, but there’s seven acres. Get somebody in here, give the property away, do whatever you have to do, but get somebody in here.’”

Using his connections from living in Georgia since 2004, he convinced the owner of Gay Oil Company Incorporated to move the company’s headquarters from Vidalia, Georgia, to the seven acre plot, where the company still operates from.

Filippone has helped introduce several other businesses to Montgomery County over the years, including B&T’s Food Fresh Supermarket, Ace Hardware, La Cabana Mexican Restaurant, Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, East Georgia Healthcare Center, Automated Storage Solutions and Mount Liquor. 

“So I’ve been blessed by the fact that I think I’ve had an impact on this place,” said Filippone. “I think I’ve done some things that would not have gotten done had I not been here, but I didn’t do it alone.”

Filippone credited Mayor Joey Fountain and the mayor’s staff for supporting the development authority during his tenure.

“He didn’t do it because he was part of my fan club,” says Filippone. “He did it because it was good for his city, and he was smart to be able to recognize that.”

According to Filippone, sales tax revenue increased from $200,000 in 2007 to $4.8 million in 2024, while the Development Authority’s funding increased from $60,000 to $104,000.

“It was purely volume, and more people now were shopping in Mount Vernon instead of driving through Mount Vernon and going to other cities to shop,” says Filippone. “You didn’t have to drive 15 minutes down the road to get to a Mexican restaurant if there was one here.”

Now, Filippone spends his days at his Ailey home with Linda, his wife of 55 years, along with 3 dogs and two horses. However, he does admit some remorse for being unable to continue to help develop Montgomery County.

“So I believe that everybody should get behind economic development,” says Filippone. “Everybody, not just the development authority, but the development authority, local governments and the taxpayer, like they do down the road.”