Depending on how far away I am from home when someone asks where I’m from, I generally just say “Southwest Georgia.” More often than not,...

At the end of this week, those who choose to do so will celebrate Valentine’s Day. For the rest of us – we will celebrate the first of...

I like to hunt – but truthfully, I enjoy fishing more. On a lucky day, I might consider myself an amateur angler. On the luckiest of...

When it comes to attracting new businesses to town and creating jobs it’s vital to have incentives to help seal the deal. As I’ve...

Not that long ago, we were swatting gnats and complaining about the heat and not a drop of rain. Who would have thought then that we...

Being born and raised in Southwest Georgia aka “God’s Country,” I have a strong love for listening to stories as well as telling them. I...

Throughout all of the community surveys, conversations and overall feedback gathered from Early County in over two years, a farmers market was in the top five things mentioned as “missing” or “an opportunity” for Blakely. It was an answered prayer having someone approach the Downtown Development Authority to help organize and manage a downtown market. That’s what economic development is all about!

This past month another Early County resident graduated from South GeorgiaLEADS. I was so proud to welcome DeWana Fields into the LEADS alumni family alongside Dr. Shanice Richardson. Last year, Shanice and I completed the program, networking and learning from community leadership throughout South Georgia. Many of the relationships built during the program are still strong and have proven to be beneficial on more than one occasion.

Since hanging up the phone in early October 2022, there hasn’t been a morning that I don’t wake up and ask myself: “What is at least one thing I’m going to do today that makes the quality of life in Early County better than it was yesterday?” If you aren’t already asking yourself this daily, weekly, monthly or even yearly, I hope you start asking it more often because there’s a “whole heap” of purpose behind every answer.

It’s hard to believe I’ve been the Development Authority of Early County’s director for two years on January 2. I figured it was about time for an official update on the groundwork that’s being laid to support a successful, vibrant community. The Development Authority office had been vacant for about six years – and it was evident. Not only by the layers of seasonal peanut dust on the furniture, but also by the mounds of loose papers and binders scattered around the room.