New council on rural development tasked with finding solutions to rural Georgia’s most pressing issues
RURAL GEORGIA….
No one can doubt that Georgia has had some tremendous accomplishments in the last six years, especially in the area of economic development and job creation. We’ve been named the number one state in the nation to do business for four straight years, seen unemployment plummet to a record low, and created nearly 600,000 new private sector jobs. We’ve truly had some impressive results, and I’m proud of the job we’re doing, but there’s another side of the story we must address.
While much of our state is prospering, rural Georgia is not seeing the same results. That’s why the Georgia House of Representatives recently created the Georgia House Rural Development Council to look for solutions. I was proud to be named a member of this council, and this week we kicked off our opening session which was about identifying our challenges. It became clear immediately that it’s not going to be an easy job.
Rural Georgia is aging rapidly and to go with that, we are losing jobs, population, and our workforce. Much of rural Georgia lacks infrastructure, especially in the area of broadband development, and many of our rural communities are struggling to educate our children to prepare them for the future. An amazing fact is that at Georgia Tech this year, there are more students from South Korea than from south Georgia schools. That is unacceptable.
There are no easy and quick fixes to the situation. This council is challenged with finding solutions during a two-year timeframe, but the work will have to continue for many years after that. We didn’t get in this situation overnight, and the solution won’t happen that way either. It will take a lot of hard work and creative thinking to get us back on the right path.
We will be going all across the state hearing expert and local testimony about job creation, infrastructure, education, healthcare, and other necessities which can make life better for all of us. I’m looking forward to hearing these presentations and welcome your input. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me if you have ideas, questions, or suggestions. I can be reached in Atlanta at 404-651-7737 or locally at 706-754-0706. If it’s easier, email me at [email protected].
There are challenges ahead, but I’m excited about working on them.
Georgia is not unique with our rural situation. All across our country, every state with rural areas is facing the same circumstances. I am, however, very proud of the fact that we have taken a proactive approach to solving these problems. As Speaker David Ralston noted in his opening remarks to us, when General James Oglethorpe founded our state in 1732 he adopted the motto “Not for self, but for others.” General Oglethorpe also created a governing body called Trustees. He wanted them to realize that the trust of the people in their decisions was of the utmost importance.
There was a reason for General Oglethorpe’s words, and we’d be well served to remember them as we go about our work.
