Athens | Clarke County: A Melting Pot

As the home of Georgia’s flagship university, it can be tempting to think of Athens as just a college town. That does a disservice to the community with its world-class bioscience companies, cutting-edge healthcare and the fun to be had in its walkable downtown, music offerings and beer trail. It also diminishes the importance of the University of Georgia (UGA), which has an impact far beyond its campus, as it spawns those bioscience companies and is set to open a new medical school to help fill the state’s dire need for physicians.

Town and Gown: Mayor Kelly Girtz. Photo credit: Angelina McEwen

“We understand that a healthy community involves really working multiple angles at the same time, and that you can never just be one thing,” Mayor Kelly Girtz says. “While the University of Georgia is the reason for the origin of Athens, this community has evolved into a multifaceted place. We’re the healthcare hub for Northeast Georgia. We’re a big entertainment and food and dining destination. There’s a lot of outdoor activity here. The quality of life here is strong. Athens really [has] everything that you would want for a happy life.”

A Shot in the Arm

“As a land-grant and sea-grant institution, the University of Georgia is deeply committed to the economic vitality of our entire state, including Athens,” UGA President Jere Morehead said in an email.

That commitment translated into a record $8.1 billion economic impact on the state in 2023.

“This estimate demonstrates the impact of our expanding research enterprise and the significant benefits provided to businesses and communities by our best-in-the-nation public service and outreach units,” Morehead says.

The impact will only increase with the opening of the new School of Medicine.

“One of the most pressing problems facing Georgia is due, in part, to our state’s tremendous appeal and success,” Morehead says. “As more and more families and businesses are drawn to our great state, surging population growth is straining Georgia’s existing healthcare infrastructure. Recent reports have also shown that close to one-third of Georgia physicians are nearing retirement. There simply are not enough doctors for our growing state. The UGA School of Medicine will help to alleviate this strain by increasing the number of practicing physicians in Georgia.”

The university broke ground on its medical education and research building in April, following the passage of the Georgia General Assembly’s 2024 amended budget that included $50 million in funding for the new facility. UGA has been training physicians on the Athens campus since 2010 through a partnership with the Augusta-based Medical College of Georgia. The transition to an independent medical school and the new medical education building will allow the university to double the number of graduates from 60 per class to 120.

Pharmaceutical Manufacturing: Ilka McConnell, center right, at the ribbon cutting of Boehringer Ingelheim’s Animal Health Global Innovation center, Photo credit: contributed

“A stand-alone medical school is the natural evolution of this partnership [with the Medical College of Georgia],” Morehead says. “Much of the infrastructure for the School of Medicine is already in place thanks to this outstanding program. The School of Medicine also will capitalize on synergies with the many UGA faculty already engaged in world-class human health research while leveraging our vast public service and outreach network to address healthcare needs in rural and underserved communities.”

New Med School: Dr. Shelly Nuss, founding dean of the new School of Medicine at the University of Georgia, left, and UGA President Jere Morehead, right Morehead in front of Winnie Davis Hall at the University of Georgia/\Augusta University Medical Partnership on the Health Science Campus. Photo credit: contributed

Stonish Pierce, president and CEO of Trinity Health Georgia, which operates St. Mary’s hospital in Athens, is also looking forward to the impact the new med school will have on the community. “At St. Mary’s, we are excited about the transition of our longtime partners at the Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership into the independent UGA School of Medicine. This school is urgently needed to address the shortage of physicians in Georgia, which ranks 40th in the nation in terms of physicians per capita. Increasing the number of physicians will lead to better access to care and better outcomes for patients. It will save lives, improve quality of life and boost our state and local economies. The future is bright for the next generation of physicians in our state.”

While UGA is increasing the number of doctors, Athens Technical College (ATC) is expanding its programs to grow the number of nurses and other healthcare professionals, in part through a partnership with Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center.

“I can’t say enough about the partnership with Piedmont,” ATC President Andrea Daniel says. “Without it we would be … graduating about 40 nurses [a year]. With Piedmont support, we are graduating 126 RNs, which is incredible.”

Life Sciences Innovation

In addition to providing the doctors and nurses the state desperately needs, Athens also is home to life sciences companies that deliver the research and products that go into pharmaceuticals for humans and animals.

“We’ve had some really good wins over the past several years that we’re very proud of,” says Ilka McConnell, economic development director for Athens-Clarke County Unified Government. “Boehringer Ingelheim animal health, which develops all kinds of vaccines [for] anything from cattle to canines to coyotes, has been in our community for a long time.”

Over the past five years, the company has expanded several times. Now, it is wrapping up construction of the new $57 million global innovation center.

Longtime Partners: Stonish Pierce, president and CEO of Trinity Health Georgia, which operates St. Mary’s hospital. Photo credit: Angelina McEwen

“That innovation center is shifting the nature of that facility, which has always been a vaccine production facility, to now be more of a research and development facility,” McConnell says.

A huge win for the area was the announcement in April 2023 that Meissner would invest nearly $250 million in a new facility. Meissner produces microfiltration systems for the pharmaceutical industry.

“They are just starting to move ground over in our Athena Industrial Park,” McConnell says. “We are very thrilled. They’re going to be hiring about 1,785 new positions. About half of those will be research and development, and the other half will be production level.”

A company that’s been in Athens since it grew out of UGA in the 1980s is Athens Research and Technology, which the Georgia Department of Economic Development has named an Exporter of the Year. The company manufactures human proteins for the study of inflammation, autoimmune diseases, cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and more. The company stays because of the talent and quality of life in the community, says CEO John Mitchell.

Talent Pipeline: Students at Athens Technical College. Photo credits: contributed

“I think what kept [Athens Research and Technology] here was the fact that… people just love the Athens area,” he says. “And there’s plenty of talent here. We realized the most important thing we have is our people. We’ve created this whole new talent pipeline tied into UGA, tied into Athens Tech and now tied into Clarke County Career Academy.”

Athens Tech and UGA, which produce a fresh crop of scientists, engineers and accountants each year, are crucial to the workforce of both Athens Research and Technology and Meissner.

“We have a pre-engineering program, and Meissner will need engineers,” Daniel says. “We have an accounting program, and Meissner will need accountants. We have an office technology program. I could go on and on about how our college will interface with Meissner.”

Athens Technical College school President Andrea Daniel. Photo credit: contributed

To help support Meissner and other companies with well-trained employees, Athens Tech opened a new industrial technology building.

“The mechatronics and robotics lab will be essential to Meissner and many other companies because manufacturing is manufacturing, whether it’s bio manufacturing, automotive manufacturing or precision manufacturing,” Daniel says.

Meeting Challenges

Athens has a lot going for it, but like most of Georgia – and the nation – two big challenges are affordable housing and workforce development.

In 2023, the unified government developed an affordable housing investment strategy. The project studied the reasons for the lack of affordable housing and proposed solutions that will “foster a housing market that meets the needs of all residents,” according to the Affordable Housing Investment Strategy.

Increasing Physicians: St. Mary’s hospital will work in partnership with the new medical school at UGA. Photo credit: contirbuted

The study reported that 37% of Athens-Clarke County households make less than $50,000. There has been 20% growth in the number of all households since 2010, but only a 5% growth in the number of all housing units during the same time. In addition, market pressure created in part by an increase in investor activity and short-term rentals has contributed to rents increasing significantly faster (54%) than household incomes (29%).

A history of inequitable access to mortgage financing for Black households has also contributed to lower homeownership and continues to create a barrier to homeownership. In addition, the study found that a lack of local public funding for affordable housing has resulted in minimal development.

Quality of Life: John Mitchell, CEO of Athens Research and Technology. Photo credit: contributed

“Housing is a challenge right now,” Girtz says. “When the economy hit the skids in 2008, lending really slowed down, and that meant construction really slowed down. But Georgia, as we well know, has continued to create these bumper crops of new jobs. People continue to have babies. We simply have a supply and demand imbalance right now that we’re going to have to use every tool in the box to work our way out of.”

The study’s No. 1 recommendation is for the local government to identify ongoing local public funding for affordable housing. Other recommendations are to prioritize pathways to the development of more affordable rental homes, expand access to homeownership and help existing homeowners remain in their homes.

Growing the Workforce

With new companies and jobs being created almost daily, Athens is working on all cylinders to create a pipeline of people to fill current and future jobs.

Classic City: Paul Cramer, president and CEO of the Classic Center, a new event and convention venue, and Katie WIlliams, executive director of Visit Athens. Photo credit: Angelina McEwen

“We have something we call the continuum of education, and it’s really set up to meet people where they are,” says Paul Cramer, president and CEO of the Classic Center, Athens’ event and convention venue. “If you never finished high school, you can come into our Bread for Life program. We will teach you how to get an entry level position and begin to excel in the area of hospitality. If you’re in high school, you can work as a part of our [hospitality] career academy. We just created two new programs at the career academy where students can get involved either in event management or hotel management, both of which are vitally important to the core of my mission. And then we started the Athens Tech hotel-restaurant program years and years ago. And we continue to work with them.”

It’s not just the hospitality sector that struggles to find good employees.

“There were 12,176 jobs that were unfilled in the Athens MSA [in] April,” says David Bradley, president and CEO of the Athens-Clarke County Chamber of Commerce. “Let’s say we could get 3,000 of those jobs filled and [they] paid $40,000 a year. That’s $120 million that is generated into our regional economy and helps to change people’s lives.”

Having Fun in Athens

Tourism is big business in Athens with people coming for football games in the fall, to visit their kids at school, for the renowned music and dining scene, to travel the beer trail or to visit the state botanical garden. According to Visit Athens, total visitor spending in 2022 was $434.7 million.

With the addition this fall of the new Akins Ford Arena at the Classic Center, that number will continue to grow. The arena will allow the Classic Center to host larger conventions, it will bring in concerts that can accommodate larger audiences and it will be home to the new hockey team, the Rock Lobsters.

“As we have expanded,” says Cramer, “we [have] brought in larger and larger groups from throughout the state for conventions and for theater events. These are statewide groups that are coming in. People have to stay in our hotels, they have to eat in our restaurants, they have to shop in our downtown.”

Already the demand for the new arena is huge. The kickoff concert will be the B-52s in December. And Cramer says that there are 86 events, shows and hockey games on the books for next year.

The facility will be more than an arena. The vision for the space surrounding the Classic Center includes the development of a dormant industrial area along the river that will include housing, restaurants, retail, office space and hotels.

Music Men and Women: The Georgia Music Collective will have a new home in the Classic Center. Photo contributed

“We’re going to see this great concourse of private-sector activity adjacent to the arena,” says Katie Williams, executive director of Visit Athens. “We’re really excited about everything that that’s going to mean for downtown.”

Inside, the arena will have something for everyone. The Georgia Music Hall of Fame, formerly housed in Macon, will have a new home in the arena concourse and will be called the Georgia Music Collective, Cramer says. The Center for Racial Justice and Black Futures, which will explore what happened to the Linnentown neighborhood of Athens and more, will also be housed there. (See more in Local Flavor.)

“I think it’s going to drive traffic to our downtown in a way that it has not historically,” Cramer says about the expansion at the Classic Center.

Slap Shots: The Classic Center’s Akins Ford Arena will host hockey games, as shown in this rendering. Photo credit: contributed

And that’s good for tourists and residents alike, Williams adds.

“Our mission is not just about heads in beds and economic development, but it’s about quality of life,” Williams says. “The ultimate goal is to make Athens a better place to live and to provide meaningful careers for the residents here.”

Local Flavor

The Long Arc of Justice

Hattie Thomas Whitehead was born in 1948 and raised in Athens, in the Linnentown neighborhood – a neighborhood of 55 homes where Black families lived and worked but that no longer exists. In Linnentown, 66% of residents owned their homes – a tremendous number of people in the 1950s and ’60s, when almost no banks would lend to Black people. Then, came urban renewal – which sounds almost like a cussword when Whitehead says it.

“My family split up as a result of the urban renewal,” she says. “I didn’t finish high school. I had to go to work. My mother and father were split up trying to earn a better living and hoping that they would get back to homeownership, which they never did.”

Federal legislation coupled with eminent domain to allow the city to take the land and turn it over to the University of Georgia for student housing. People were paid as little as $2,000 for their homes and forced to leave. Homes and businesses were burned. Linnentown disappeared from the map. But not from the mind of Hattie Whitehead.

After retiring in 2020, she says she was looking for something to do when Linnentown called her back.

Beauty from Ashes: Hattie Thomas Whitehead brought attention the destruction of her childhood neighborhood due to urban renewal and some five decades later got an apology from the current mayor of Athens. Photo credit: Angelina McEwen

In 2019, a library employee at UGA was doing research in the university’s Special Collections Libraries when he uncovered information and data about the destruction of Linnentown. White- head and a group of residents and de- scendants began working on a resolution asking the city to recognize Linnentown and provide redress for the loss. The work paid off. In 2020, the mayor assem- bled the Justice and Memory Project that would explore avenues for atonement for what had happened and the role the city played.

But Whitehead wanted to do more.

“I wrote a book called Giving Voice to Linnentown,” she says. “Even though I had not written a book before, I thought it was needed.”

The story of Linnentown is personal for her, but the reason she felt compelled to speak out about its destruction is much bigger.

“What I speak in public about is how federal legislation can look one way on paper, but then when it comes to implementation [it] is completely different. The federal legislation partnered with eminent domain and the property was gone. Our inheritance was gone.”

The work of Whitehead and others led the city to agree that the former residents of Linnentown and their descendants were owed $5 million for the land. The city agreed to pay $2.5 million of that, not to the group directly, but with the support of the group, with $1.25 million to be used to improve the lives of people of Athens, with funding going towards affordable housing, grants for downpayments on homes and more. The other $1.25 million would be used for a Black history center, the Center for Racial Justice and Black Futures.

As important as the center is to Whitehead, the apology from the city is more meaningful.

“The first thing we wanted was an apology,” Whitehead says. “That’s what we’ve been taught since childhood, that when something is done wrong, you need to apologize. In 2021, Mayor Girtz apologized. He wrote a proclamation that included an apology. And he read it on the City Hall steps. It was so historic that our mayor would do this. He would apologize.”