JOHNSTOWN, Ohio — Intel is turning smaller towns, like New Albany and Johnstown, into popular destinations for people to live, but how are these communities planning to keep that small-town feel?

What You Need To Know

• Intel is turning smaller towns into popular destinations for people to live


• Many businesses and longtime residents in Licking County worry Intel’s move could take away from their communities’ small-town charm


• Johnstown mayor details his plans on how he hopes to keep the small-town feel alive

With the growth of Intel coming in, the City of Johnstown is only getting busier, affecting business like Ghostwriter.

Ghostwriter owner Denise Blankemeyer is renovating her restaurant at a time Licking County is seeing rapid growth.

"We're changing the concept from fine dining to more of a casual bourbon and grilled cheese type concept,” she said.

While Intel's move here is good for sales, Blankemeyer said she's hoping it doesn't change Johnstown’s small-town charm. That's why keeping her business here and thriving is key.

"This is a community venue,” she said. “We have a lot of regular customers, guests that are from Johnstown, and they become family."

Mayor Donny Barnard shares the same sentiment.

"You want to be careful to protect that small-town charm,” he said. “We don't want Johnstown changing for the negative. So, it's keeping those the type of development that we want here in Johnstown and doing it the way we think it should be done."

But he says doing it right means laying out a detailed plan.

"We've created a steering committee right now,” he explained, “that's working on the zoning just for this specific area to maintain that charm. We don't want it to see all commercialized and want to see commercialized all cookie cutter businesses all looking the same way but keeping that small-town charm."

But until then, businesses like Ghostwriter are excited to welcome in new faces as Intel booms larger and larger.