SMITHFIELD - Every year, Chris Johnson and his friends like to speculate who might win the Smithfield-Selma Chamber of Commerce’s highest honor – the Citizen of the Year award.

Needless to say, the guesses missed mark this year when the chamber presented the award to Johnson, head of the Downtown Smithfield Development Corp. “I was completely caught off guard,” he said Tuesday. “Is it fair to receive an award for doing your job?”

Johnson’s work on and off the job go well beyond downtown development, but he sees all his activities as part of his mission – promoting and improving his adopted hometown. “It’s easy for me to sell a community that I live in and I work in,” he said.

Johnson has led the downtown group for 12 years, and he’s overseen major projects like new sidewalks, the Buffalo Creek Greenway and buried power lines. He’s the main contact for anyone looking to open a business in downtown Smithfield.

His success comes in part from the fact he’s not the typical 9-to-5 bureaucrat. He and his wife, Kim, own Jewel’s Bridal Boutique, housed in a former hardware store they renovated in the heart of downtown. It was Johnson’s first revitalization project, and he’s continued by converting a building a few doors down into commercial space and apartments.

“That gives me a leg up” in enticing businessmen to downtown, he said. “I’ve got firsthand information, and I don’t mind sharing it.”

As DSDC director, Johnson heads up the annual Ham and Yam Festival. He barely sleeps much of that weekend, running around with the help of energy drinks to make the event run smoothly. Though it’s the highest profile event, Johnson said it represents about 5 percent of his group’s work. Downtown has events nearly every weekend, from the Ava Gardner Festival to art walks to street concerts.

But Johnson’s efforts extend well beyond Smithfield’s historic core. He’s the town’s main economic-development guy, and most recently he helped win state certification for several industrial sites on the outskirts of town.

Johnson was also one of the founders of Neuse Charter School, and he currently chairs the school’s board. The school has grown quickly, adding high school grades and moving to a permanent campus in Smithfield this year.

“I’m absolutely amazed at how things have fallen into place,” Johnson said. “We’ve been extremely fortunate.”

Johnson sees his charter school work as an extension of the economic-development efforts, since good schools will bring employers to town. His drive to make Smithfield thrive might stem in part from his tiny hometown in Northampton County. He jokes that one can “see the end of the world from there.” There was no coffee shop or New York-style deli where he grew up.

Johnson landed in Johnston County after he met his wife, a Smithfield native, while earning a degree in industrial technology at East Carolina University. His first career here was politics, serving on the staff of Congressman David Funderburk. After the congressman left office, Johnson got interested in the downtown development job while serving on the group’s board as a property owner. He started in an interim capacity and hasn’t left.

Looking forward, Johnson wants to work on walkability projects in downtown and other areas like the outlet center. Also, he’d “love to see us look at ways to build back what was torn down” in the 70s and 80s, he said.