Our team from Toombs County traveled to Athens on May 10th to kick off the CREATE-Cultivating Rural Entrepreneurs And Transforming Economies program! Toombs County was one of six counties chosen to participate in the CREATE program along with Baldwin, Bleckley, Hart, Pickens, and Polk. The team of community champions will work closely over the next two years with the Georgia Power Community and Economic Development team to create a growth strategy and support system for our local entrepreneur and small business ecosystem.
The Toombs County team of Community Champions are:
Tonya Green Parker (Downtown Vidalia Association), Daphne Walker (Lyons Main Street), Jency Jeffers (Lyons Main Street and City of Lyons Zoning & Planning), Brian Frederick (Vidalia Downtown Development Authority), Ivette Torres Guzman (Greater Vidalia ®Chamber Board), Heather Davis (Entrepreneur), Michele Johnson (Greater Vidalia ®Chamber and Toombs County Development Authority), Debbie Evans (Greater Vidalia ®Chamber), and Ann Owens (Greater Vidalia ®Chamber and Toombs County Development Authority).
Scott Purvis with Georgia Power Community & Economic Development has been working with local communities for over thirty years and understands their challenges and opportunities, “Rural Georgia towns have a lot of assets that make them attractive to entrepreneurs and startups. One of the goals of the CREATE program is to help those communities catalog their assets and use them as a catalyst for growth.”“For an entrepreneurial ecosystem to be effective, it’s essential to incorporate small business owners’ ideas, experiences, and vision into the communities’ strategies,” said Sarah Carnes, Business Recruitment Associate with Georgia Power Community & Economic Development.
Later this year, communities will receive $5,000 in seed capital to kick-start their implementation efforts. Through CREATE and other Rural initiatives, Georgia Power Community & Economic Development helps rural and small towns across Georgia plan for sustainable growth.
