Tifton/Tift County
In many ways, Tift County's economy depends in great part on the lands that surround it and the strangers who pass through Tifton, the county seat, on their way to or from Florida's attractions.
Author: Ed Lightsey
Trend Radar: December 2006
Business And Economic News From Around The State
Second Homes
How the growing second home market benefits Georgia, as buyers are drawn to the mountains, the coast and lakeside locations.
Southwest Georgia: A Brighter Outlook
Economic development updates for Southwest Georgia, Forsyth/ Monroe and Fitzgerald/Ben Hill.
Trend Radar: November 2006
Overton Junction completed; The Georgia Brain Train.
Rome/Floyd County: Staying on Top
No geography courses are offered at Rome’s Coosa Valley Technical College, but that hasn’t kept the school’s president from developing an intense interest in the subject.
Corporate Training
As businesses work to comply with government regulations, increase productivity and retain good employees, corporate trainers are teaching banking procedures, media tactics, management skills - and a lot more.
Athens/Clarke County: Classic City Mobility
Economic development updates for Athens/Clarke, Henry and Gainesville/Hall counties.
Athens/Clarke County: Athens’ Other College
When Piedmont College opened for business in Athens a decade ago, only 64 students were enrolled, causing some to wonder what gold the 110-year-old private school expected to find in the shadows of the University of Georgia.
Growing Parity In Agribusiness
Living on the land: Third Generation farmer Craig Perryman grows peanuts and cotton on 550 acres in Colquitt County
The Bus Stops Here
The annual Heart and Soul of Georgia Tour celebrates some re-energized downtowns and gives small towns a chance to tell their stories. Here's a look at Waycross, Fitzgerald and Folkston.
Reinventing The Cloister
The crown jewel of Georgia's fabled Sea Island resort will reopen later this year, resurrected, reborn and rebuilt. Bill Jones III, the man whose vision has guided the process, says the new building has to respect the past and look to the future.
Savannah: Powering Up
When Savannah aircraft maker Gulfstream announced a major expansion last March, it seemed to underscore the success of leaders in this oak-shaded coastal colonial city in widening an economic base that has long relied on the charm of its historic squares and the muscle of its shipping commerce.
Savannah: A Chamber Mystery
Back in 1998, a mysterious package containing an anonymous letter arrived at the offices of the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce.
Savannah/Chatham County At-A-Glance
Fast facts about Savannah/Chatham County: population, unemployment rate, per capita income, top employers.
High-Tech Aptitude, Basic Skills
Educating Georgia's new manufacturing workforce means teaching technical skills largely unknown five years ago, offering remedial math and English courses and working to instill good old-fashioned workplace values.
Eastman/Dodge County: Air Power Transportation
With rising winds blowing in a morning sky dark as midnight and forecasts of rain and hail for the Eastman area, Andy Lundell was busy shepherding small airplanes into their hangars at Georgia Aviation and Technical College (GATC).
Eastman/Dodge County: Wearing It Well
Mario Matos was a young man in a hurry when he arrived in America in 1975. Fresh from high school in his native Peru, he rushed from job to job in restaurants and sewing factories, always looking for a way to get a toehold on the American Dream.
Eastman/Dodge County At-A-Glance
Fast facts about Eastman/Dodge County: population, unemployment rate, per capita income, top employers.
Jesup/Wayne County: Possibilities And Potential
Riding south from Jesup along U.S. Highway 301 with Harry Yeomans behind the wheel of his Mercedes, one is struck by a landscape of long stretches of huge pine forests, interrupted only occasionally by the crumbling motels that lured Florida-bound tourists to Southeast Georgia during the 1940s and '50s.
2006 TrendSetter Cities Of Excellence
For the seventh year Georgia Trend and the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA) are continuing a partnership to recognize municipalities that have taken unusual steps to get the maximum from their budgets and widen citizens' participation in local government.
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2006 Cities of Excellence – Decatur
A short time after Decatur leaders learned the city had nailed top honors in two separate Trendsetter Award categories, Mayor Bill Floyd was sitting in the local Starbucks musing on a possible connection between stretching the public dollar and encouraging more public input in government.
2006 Cities of Excellence – Gainesville
The only uniforms you'll see at the Gainesville Citizens' Government Academy are those worn by local cops giving a lecture on crime prevention.
2006 Cities of Excellence – Hinesville
By encouraging everyone he works with to throw out ideas, Hinesville city manager Billy Edwards not only saved his town a lot of money, he also helped it capture the 2006 Trendsetter Award for cities of more than 25,000 in the Fiscal Fitness: Stretching the Public Dollar category.
2006 Cities of Excellence – Jesup
Things are dirt cheap in Jesup, and that's just the way city officials want to keep it. In fact, Jesup lays claim to being the cheapest place in Georgia for purchasing municipal basics. By providing inexpensive services - and a little fun - to its citizens with a dash of small town eccentricity, Jesup charmed the judges into awarding it the top Trendsetter Cities prize in the Fiscal Fitness category for cities with populations of less than 10,000.
2006 Cities of Excellence – Suwanee
Suwanee mayor Nick Masino, whose city won a Trendsetter Award in the Hearing Voices category for small cities, says he is no politician. Yet he has been enjoying a political life that's the dream of most elected officials - running for office with no opposition.
Spreading the Job Wealth
Hot job prospects are in evidence throughout the state, as demographic shifts and changes in the economy help brighten the employment picture
Columbia County: Supply And Demand
It's late afternoon and the John Deere Commercial Products factory in Columbia County's Horizon South Industrial Park is quiet.
Columbia County At-A-Glance
Fast facts about Columbia County: population, unemployment rate, per capita income, top employers, government.
Columbia County: Counter-Trend – Insourcing
Last May, when Indian businessman Gurdeep Soni came to Columbia County's Horizon North Industrial Park for a groundbreaking ceremony, he brought a small vial of water taken from near the headquarters of his New Delhi corporation, Uniparts.
Columbia County: Going Hollywood
For a brief joyous moment last October, the little hamlet of Harlem (pop. 1,804) became Colombia County's largest city, thanks to the 1892 birth of a child who would grow into one of the funniest men ever to stumble across the silver screen.
Bryan County: Staying Above It All
Andy Cayton likes to fly high on the weekends. Cayton, a Pembroke area resident, is one of the world's foremost balloonists. The retired Army helicopter pilot holds three world records in small hot air balloon categories for altitude (18,000 feet), distance and time (1,666 miles in 16.5 hours) and duration (24 hours without stopping).
Bryan County: Signs Of The Times
Three years ago when it appeared automaker Daimler-Chrysler was coming to the neighborhood with a new plant and bringing thousands of jobs, real estate developers began poking around in northwest Bryan County looking for building sites.
Finding Solutions
When business owners and civic leaders come together to address common problems, the answer is often a community improvement district. Gwinnett County is about to get the largest one in Georgia.
Sylvania/Screven County: Spinning A Successful Yarn
In 1994, rumors of a plant closing in Screven County began to surface, generating deep concern among locals in and around Sylvania, the county seat.
Trendsetter – Cities Of Excellence
For the sixth year, Georgia Trend partners with the Georgia Municipal Association to honor some of the state's outstanding cities. This year we celebrate six that have distinguished themselves in the area of public safety and in community and economic development.
Beach Music
Sea Island Company CEO Bill Jones III is helping bring the world to Georgia's door.
Georgia’s Top Public Servants
Meet the winners of the first Excellence In Public Service Awards, presented by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia in partnership with Georgia Trend. The awards honor five outstanding government professionals at the state and local levels: Dr. Kenneth Breeden, head of Georgia's Department of Technical and Adult Education; Peggy Merriss, Decatur City Manager; Jim Burgess, Social Circle Mayor; Charlotte Nash, Gwinnett County Administrator; and Stephen Gooch, Lumpkin County Commissioner.
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