As Jonesboro’s largest residential construction project in decades and first gated retirement community hits full stride, MGM Development Group announces the street in Jonesboro Senior Village will be named “Jay Odom Way” in honor of the local resident. 

“This is a great feel-good story since Jay Odom epitomizes the great people and culture of Jonesboro and Jackson Parish,” said Jeff Glover with MGM Development Group who went on to explain how Odom’s friendship was instrumental in MGM deciding to invest in Jackson Parish. 

“As an overworked, stressed-out CenturyLink Executive, I turned to one of my childhood hobbies, fishing, in order to relax. After fishing Caney Lake in 2006, I fell in love with the beauty of the lake and the prospect of catching trophy bass, but catching fish on Caney was difficult. I had been out of fishing for a while and didn’t know how to read my fish finder, wasn’t up on the latest fishing techniques or equipment and was pretty much a “bank beater” at that time with little success on Caney.” 

“Most fishermen are secretive, don’t want to provide others tips on baits and by all means don’t want to share information on good fishing holes. That was not the case with my friend Jay Odom. He didn’t know me from Adam, but over time he taught me how to read my fish finders, how to fish new techniques such as a dropshot or shaky head, and he even showed me good places to fish. Jay is so humble that he will probably deny the importance of his contributions, but learning something new and catching fish was a tremendous blessing and stress relief for me.”

“Jay’s friendship helped me come to love Jackson Parish as my second home and I spend as much time on Caney Lake and in Jonesboro as possible. It also motivated me to “give back” and do my best to make a difference in Jackson Parish. As a CenturyLink Executive responsible for obtaining federal funding for rural broadband deployment, my team was able to obtain federal funding and convince the engineering team to deploy fiber optic networks in Chatham and on the north side of Caney Lake to enable faster Internet service. Back then, former State Senator Jim Fannin was also a strong advocate for broadband deployment around the lake. The north side of the lake is experiencing rapid growth and development, which has benefited the parish and the City of Jonesboro.”

“After leaving CenturyLink, I joined a couple of other Christian businessmen to develop retirement communities around the state. That’s how Jonesboro Senior Village came to fruition. The desire to make a difference in Jonesboro and Jackson Parish led us to take this leap of faith to build this $10.5 million gated retirement community. This is the smallest community in which we have constructed a gated retirement community. This is a total leap of faith that Jonesboro Senior Village will be a success. So far we have nearly 30 people interested in living in the gated retirement community and we are anxious to open the doors in January.”

“The moral of the story is clear, never underestimate the power of your good deeds particularly when it comes to helping other people. Jay Odom has been a great friend and great example of how the good people of Jonesboro can influence others to invest in Jackson Parish. We are proud that “Jay Odom Way” is the name of the street in Jonesboro Senior Village.”

For more information on Jonesboro Senior Village or to apply for residency send an email to: JonesboroSeniorVillage@gmail.com