At the ECG Summit: I’m your Huckleberry

When the Electric Cities of Georgia (ECG) called to invite me to be a panelist for the 20th Anniversary of their Economic Development Summit on Jekyll Island, I was sold on it as soon as I was told it would be held on St. Patrick’s Day. Despite the return of the colder weather, spending the majority of the week on Jekyll didn’t sound all that bad – but I had to ask, “Are y’all sure?”

It’s recognized locally, regionally and state-wide that improvements in Blakely have occurred in a relatively short amount of time; however, when you’re involved in the day-to-day mix of development activities, it may not always feel like it. The ECG team has come to know me as a blunt person over the past two years and said they needed panelists who would “Tell It Like It Is.” As I told the ECG representative over the phone that day, “I’m your Huckleberry.”

The other downtown developer invited to the panel was Jessie Owensby, the Community Development Director for the City of Cornelia. For those who aren’t familiar with Cornelia (Habersham County), it is located in Northwest Georgia, diagonally across the state from Early County.

Prior to the Summit, Jessie and I “met” virtually to discuss a plan of action for the panel. As soon as she started speaking, I knew we were going to get along very well. She sounded just like me – perhaps even a bit more twangy. As we got to know each other, we found we had very similar downtowns. We both could tell the wittiest and best stories about our communities. It was obvious Jessie cares a lot about Cornelia and its quality of life for all citizens.

I was thankful to be introduced to her. She is now another excellent connection to help us with our economic development goals.

The morning of the panel, I really didn’t know what to expect. The room was nearly packed with local and state economic development professionals as well as elected officials.

A monitor with the timer sat directly in front of me. In the instant the panel began, it felt like the hour allotted to speak on Downtown Development would drag on all afternoon. The first question was directed at me: “In a minute or two, can you give us an overview of the City of Blakely and Early County?”

After almost 10 minutes of giving a “brief” overview of the community, it was clear… An hour would not be nearly enough time to talk about all the things that have happened for the better in Downtown Blakely over the past two years and 4 months. Much to the audience’s delight, I broke out “the wallet photos” and began showing community successes to the audience like a proud “parent.”

There’s always so much more to tell about Early County. It feels like there’s not enough hours in the day to do all that needs to be done or said. As a self-proclaimed journalist and historian – I believe it is our responsibility to talk about the community any opportunity provided. As I’ve said before, you just never know who it might reach or who they might recount our story.

Overall, it was a beautiful week and a much-needed time with my fellow economic developers. It was nice being away from the office for a couple of days, but as soon as the event was over – I sure was ready to head back to our side of Georgia.

Shared with permission from The Early County News