Announcements:

AROUND REGION FIVE
Georgia Department of Community Affairs ? Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism
Service Delivery Region Five
April/May/June 2003

Corridor Study Receives Funding

The Department of Community Affairs’ Quality Growth Grant Program is tailored to promote quality of life and better growth management by providing matching funds for the implementation of quality growth activities by local governments across the state.

Activities eligible for assistance include: infill housing, brownfield redevelopment, alternative/multi-modal transportation facilities, and other projects directly promoting growth management concepts or discouraging urban sprawl. The preparation of local ordinances, regulations, or inter-governmental agreements promoting quality growth strategies, public education on quality growth topics, programs to preserve community heritage, sense of place, and regional identity may also be funded.

All Georgia municipalities, counties, and consolidated governments are eligible to apply for Quality Growth Grants. Semiannual application deadlines are May 15 and November 15. Grants may be requested for any amount between 5,000 dollars and 40,000 dollars.

The City of Social Circle recently received funding from the Quality Growth Grant Program to pursue an Interstate 20 Corridor Planning Study, which will focus on multi-jurisdictional cross-county land use planning. Greene, Jasper, Morgan, Newton, and Walton Counties, as well as the Cities of Covington, Greensboro, Oxford, Madison, Monticello, Newborn, Rutledge, and Union Point were joint applicants in the proposal.

The area’s rate of growth, proximity to Metro Atlanta, and relationship to a major interstate make the need for consistent, complimentary planning particularly acute. Local officials anticipate that the study will help address these issues.

For more information about the Quality Growth Grant program, contact Jim Frederick at 404.679.1905.

RAC Welcomes New Members

At the most recent meeting of the Board of Directors of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, members approved nominations for new representatives of Clarke, Jackson, and Walton Counties to the Region Five Regional Advisory Council (RAC). On Thursday, April 24, Athens-Clarke County Commissioner David Lynn, Commerce Mayor Pro Tem Archie Chaney, and Walnut Grove Mayor Don Cannon will join the Council as it establishes a work plan for the year.

Mr. Jack Bone and Mr. Marvin White, new appointees of the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade, and Tourism have joined the Council and will be present at the meeting, as well. Mr. Bone and Mr. White represent Morgan and Madison Counties, respectively.

The new members will replace Social Circle Mayor Jim Burgess, Athens-Clarke County Commissioner Cardee Kilpatrick, Commerce Councilman Bob Sosebee, Madison Attorney Roy Lambert, and Comer’s Bill Lewis, who recently completed terms that began with the RAC’s 1998 inception. Staff of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs and the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade, and Tourism have appreciated the participation of all five departing members, and will miss their contributions to the Regional Advisory Council.

Leadership Video Available

The Region Five leadership video, “Leadership: Improving Communities, Strengthening Regions,” is complete. The video focuses on the relationship between strong leadership and economic development at the local and regional levels. To illustrate this connection, the video chronicles the revitalization of Monticello, the conception and creation of the Bear Creek Reservoir, and the development of the Stanton Springs Industrial/Research Park.

The video, a product of the Region Five Advisory Council Leadership Initiative, was produced by the University of Georgia’s Georgia Center for Continuing Education. The tape will be made available through the Department of Community Affairs’ Region Five Service Delivery Office to local governments for use as a tool in local leadership programs.

For more information about the video, please contact Sarah Lawton at 706.542.9985.

GAED Plans Youth Academy

The 2002 Region Five Georgia Academy for Economic Development (GAED) class has been awarded funding from the statewide Board of Directors of the GAED to conduct a Youth Academy for Economic Development. The project is the result of the GAED’s expanded curriculum, funded in part by the 2001 Georgia General Assembly, in which classes throughout the state were charged with developing a project for implementation on a regional level.

The Region Five Academy class has focused on the need to engage youth in the future of their communities throughout the development of the project. As planned, the youth academy program curriculum will use assessments of local communities, simulations, and practical examples to create an environment in which participants link community economic development practice with its impact on their daily lives, and identify opportunities to become involved their communities’ economic development process.

The day long session will provide a forum for students to articulate their hopes for future development within their communities, equip them to act as leaders and catalysts for development at the local level, and create an awareness among them of the need for regional, cooperative approaches to economic development.

Five students from each of the twelve counties in Region Five will be selected on an honorary basis to participate in the program. The J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership has been selected to coordinate the development and implementation of the event, which is scheduled to occur in Watkinsville during Fall 2003.

For more information about the Georgia Academy for Economic Development, contact Sarah Lawton at 706.542.9985.

Heart and Soul in Region Five

The Georgia Cities Foundation’s Heart and Soul 2003 Bus Tour will visit Region Five on Thursday, April 23, 2003. The annual tour, sponsored by the Georgia Municipal Association’s Georgia Cities Foundation, showcases the innovative ways Georgia cities create vibrant, attractive downtowns that increase quality of life and serve as engines of economic development. This year’s tour will visit the Region Five communities of Covington and Madison.

For more information and the Heart and Soul Bus Tour, contact Linda Wilkes at 678.686.6243.

Hospitality Career Panel Holds Summit Series

The Hospitality Careers Panel (HCP), in cooperation with the Northeast Georgia Workforce Development Partnership, was recently awarded 200,000 dollars in funding from the School to Work program to establish a two year hospitality degree program.

The Panel, created in 1999, is composed of hospitality industry leaders, association members, and educators. The group is charged with the task of developing a seamless hospitality education system for the region in the form of a two year training program and a summer Hospitality Careers Academy. The benefits of a system that connect career options to academic programs for secondary and post secondary students are numerous. Such connections will lend a greater sense of professionalism to the industry, give industry businesses access to a pool of trained, qualified, motivated prospective employees, and encourage industry input in training programs so that graduates are better equipped to meet employers’ needs and compete in an already competitive field.

The HCP has organized a series of three summits to facilitate the creation of this system. The first two, held this spring, provided forums for educators and industry leaders to share their thoughts regarding the curriculum and support needed for a two year hospitality training program and accompanying Hospitality Careers Academy. The third summit is tentatively scheduled for May, when participants in the first two summits will join each other to review the results of their work and plan next steps for program development.

By increasing awareness of the industry and its available career options, strengthening student achievement, and expanding employer involvement in the education system, the Panel hopes that its ultimate goal—the preparation of a degreed, professional workforce—can be achieved. The six day Hospitality Careers Academy is scheduled for June. The HCP anticipates that the two year program will be in place at one of the area technical colleges in Fall 2003.

For more information about the summits or plans for the program and summer academy, contact Shannon McCullough at 706.614.8019.

DITT Offers Resource

The Georgia Department of Industry, Trade, and Tourism, in cooperation with the Georgia Tech Economic Development Institute, is currently offering a set of information technology briefings free of charge to its clients in the Region Five Service Delivery Area.

The briefings cover a diverse range of topics, including basic challenges such as new office technologies and issues of strategic importance, such as controlling telcom costs.

For information about scheduling a program for your civic organization or business, contact Susie Haggard at 706.542.9893.

Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Awards

• Barrow County received $500,000 for the construction of a Head Start Facility
• City of Comer received a $107,700 grant to fund water improvements
• Morgan County received $500,000 to fund the construction of a Senior Center
• City of Oxford received $500,000 for a sewer improvements project
• Walton County received $500,000 to assist with the construction of a Mental Health Center
• City of Woodville received $155,843 to support a water improvements project

CDBG-Employment Incentive Program Awards


• City of Commerce was awarded $250,000 to provide direct loan funding to an expanding business

Transportation Enhancement (TEA-21) Awards

• The City of Commerce was awarded $635,914 for the construction of the Commerce Pedestrian Corridor
• Elbert County received $500,000 to fund the Granite City Trail and Bicycle network
• The City of Hoschton received $550,000 for downtown streetscape improvements
• The City of Monticello received $400,000 for downtown streetscape improvements and the construction of the Scenic Byway Bikeway
• City of Statham received $200,000 for streetscape improvements and a multi-use trail
• Walton County received $433,660 for the construction of the Great Walton Bikeway
• The City of Watkinsville received $500,000 for downtown streetscape improvements
• The City of Winder received $50,000 for downtown streetscape improvements
• The City of Winterville received $200,080 to rehabilitate the Winterville Depot

Grassroots Arts Program Awards

• Athens-Clarke County Library received $500 to fund performances based on African folklore.
• The Elbert County Senior Center received $1,664 to implement a project to benefit seniors entitled Travel Through Art: The Quilts and Textiles of Japan.
• The Madison County Library was awarded $1,722 to help support the Folklife in Georgia - A Festival Celebrating the Traditional Music, Dance and Handiwork of Rural Georgia.

  The Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) is accepting Local Development Fund (LDF) applications until October 1, 2001. The LDF program provides matching grants to fund community improvement activities. Examples of eligible activities include: downtown development projects, public parking facilities, historic preservation projects, tourism and related marketing activities, recreation improvements, community facilities (such as museums, community centers etc.), limited solid waste activities (such as recycling and multi-county planning), activities implementing approved comprehensive plans, and preservation improvements to historic public buildings such as courthouses and city halls. Examples of ineligible grant activities are general improvements or renovations to non-historic public buildings, or water and sewer activities. The maximum grant amount is $10,000 for single community projects and $20,000 for multi-community projects. Please contact Amy Hill at (404) 679-3154, or via e-mail at ahill@dca.state.ga.us for additional information.