The Advance. (Vidalia, Ga.) 2003-current, March 24, 2021, Image 15

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The Advance., March 24, 2021, Image 15

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Newspaper Page Textgfre Aiiuantg The ADVANCE, March 24, 2021/Page 15A Chamber continued from page 1A rebranding effort for the chamber that includes a new logo, new web site, and an aggressive marketing strategy. With the globally recognized Vidalia onion, we will leverage our new brand to embark on a mul tiyear strategy to increase commerce throughout Toombs, Montgomery, and surrounding market areas.” McComas explained that the new name is in tended to propel existing efforts to exhibit a pro gressive business climate to retain and attract small businesses and young pro fessional talent. “We ap preciate the support we receive from our members and local leadership on our three strategic priori ties focused on growth in our Reach Programs, a new Regional Center for Entrepreneurship, and this rebranding effort." In explaining what led to the change, McComas said about two years ago, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce presented facts to local planners about the Toombs-Montgomery County area. “The pro jected net growth within the area was 120 jobs by 2027. The population will get older, young people will get educated here and accelerate out of the com munity. Close to 28% of the population in 2027 will be above age of 65 and 21% of the population will not be ... competitive in the global environment.” McComas said the local chamber focused on what could be done to counter act these projections. Now in its second year, the sponsor-based REACH program con tinues to grow as it serves seven counties in the Toombs-Montgomery re gion. Chamber member Greg Hudgins provided an overview of the ex panding initiative. “This program speaks to all businesses in our com munity and outside of it.” Among the opportunities offered through REACH are Showcasing Toombs- Montgomery, Business So lutions Summit, Business Expo and ConnectHER. “This program is custom ized to fit each business model and provides op portunities to network and showcase businesses.” Chamber member Britt McDade provided a glimpse of things to come with the chamber’s Entre preneurship Center. Mc Dade noted that 97% of businesses employ fewer than 50 people and 20% of these small businesses fail within the first year, 30% fail by the end of the second year, and 50% fail by the end of the fifth year. “This is proof that people need resources and guid ance to keep from failing,” he said. The chamber’s Re gional Entrepreneurship Center will “foster, pro mote and accelerate exist ing and new, start-up busi nesses through incubation, co-working, mentoring, funding and strategic sup port.” The Center will of fer facility-based services, low-cost office spaces, In ternet and direct business development. An educa tional program partner ing with local schools and colleges will offer business seminars and profes- _ sional networking en- < vironments. McComas said of the Entrepreneurship Center, “This is not a formalized program at an institution. This is an idea, and also a place where people can come and think Photo by Deborah Clark IN APPRECIATION - Outgoing Chamber Chair Tres Herin presents the 2020 Chairman's Award to Harry Moses in recognition of extraordinary service and leadership, Moses is Vice-Chairman of the Toombs County Develop ment Authority on which he has served since 2017. the trigger (at this time) except for COVID. It ex posed a lot of things in the country, supply teams and people’s hearts. You see companies reshoring or spreading out operations.” She added, “People have learned they can work anywhere. For the first time in a long time, people are seeing a reason to be rural as they leave big cities that may never be the same again. In this competitive world, given the circum stances we have right now, we need to position our community to seize ben efits may be coming our way.” Johnson said the re branding project focused on three different perspec tives: He emphasized, “We want to attract people off that interstate to Lyons, Mount Vernon, Vidalia, and bring business to this area. We want them to drive 25 minutes into our area.” One way to do that is to place billboards strategi cally along the busy route with an invitation to visit and a QR code that can be captured electronically and connect immediately with the chamber’s new website where informa tion on businesses, com munity events and local Pizza or the Real Squeal in Lyons, to Brewton-Parker College in Mount Vernon where they can see the historic pioneer village or learn about the nursing is a program, or to Vidalia for the Onion Festival.” He noted, “There is power of brand and le verage regardless of the communities we are in. We have a beautiful Com munity, but we have to get an influx of outside com merce to stimulate growth in this community.” Using a cell phone, visitors to the area can access infor “We want to be a beacon for rural prosperity and resiliency. We want to use the world name of Vidalia Onion as a marketing tool. It’s part of our history, our heritage and community pride that’s already there.” -Michele Johnson, Chamber President and Development Authority Executive Director and do. We have to engage the next generation. We want them to start busi nesses, to buy businesses.” In introducing the new branding/marketing strat egy adopted by the cham ber, McComas used as an example the lost opportu nity on nearby Interstate 16. “It takes 25 minutes to get here from 1-16, one of the most traveled roads in the United States. But peo ple are driving right by our community.” attractions can be easily accessed. Front and cen ter will be the chamber’s new logo that celebrates what is already an interna tionally-recognized brand, the Vidalia Onion. The billboards will begin to go up in the third and fourth quarters of 2021, McCo mas said. “We want to use this global brand to create at tention, so that people are coming off of the Interstate and going to Hardware Should terns of Members of Congress also be limited? Terms of members of Congress should be limited for the same rea son that Congress limited the terms of the President in 1951: Power corrupts. Implementing term lim its will get rid of career politicians low committee assignments to be determined by merit and expertise, resulting in fair and informed deci sions on issues. in their protected ivory towers and install citizen statesmen who live \ <//*, among the problems V, V- V. * * ■ of ordinary people with real lives and jobs. First, when candi- dates know they cannot \ jj run again, they will not be mmi compelled to vote just AyJM; along party lines or to make legislative deci- I sions for special interest I I groups. Second, having revolving new members will limit the time, mon ey, and power that others have to influence election results for some one already in office. With term limits, qualified people, no matter their finances, will again have a real opportunity to win elections. Third, important committee appointments now are often as signed to established congressmen if they are willing to support causes or projects that may benefit a par ticular group. Term limits will al- Finally, since Congress will not restrict itself, individual states must themselves set term limits for the candidates from their states. States can challenge a 1995 Supreme Court flfW decision that pro- * ~‘ET—tected legislators from lIHfnlnirm accountability to their voters. The states have iSPillllllfllfltel t ^ ie P ower to amend the Constitution, when Congress will not, if two- thirds of the states request that a Constitutional Convention be con vened to pass an amendment. It could limit senators to two six-year terms and congressmen to three two-year terms. Term limits are no cure-all. The political class seems biased toward expanding government control over the daily lives of ordinary citi zens, but weakening its long-term membership could lessen the un rest now apparent in the nation. mation on local business and activities “with three clicks. On the back end, there are analytics that tell help us track who is com ing to our area.” Michele Johnson, Chamber President and Executive Director of the Toombs-Montgomery Development Authority, emphasized, “We need to work together for the com mon goal of economic prosperity. Here, there is a sense that everyone is important and we need to build on that.” A 30-year veteran of the local chamber, John son said the decision to rebrand locally was facili tated in part by the impact of COVID-19. “I am not sure we would have pulled transportation, education, and workforce develop ment. Regional Community “Obviously, we have great relationships and we wanted to recognize the history, heritage, tradition, and growth opportunities of the greater community. We felt like a good way to do this was by aligning ourselves with a shared treasure that is already in place, the Vidalia Onion. We wanted to work togeth er to continue to establish ourselves as a regional leader in jobs, health care, and education. We felt like we should use all the am munition available to en sure the future of our over all community,” Johnson emphasized. “Every unique local ity is still going to be rep resented. We are all in this together but we need to realize we are better as a cohesive regional pro gram. Local governments have charged themselves with certain goals. We took some time and dove into the comprehensive plans of Toombs and Mont gomery counties and our region. This very closely aligned with all of those plans, and we want to work alongside our local govern ments to promote their ef forts and then wanted to look at it from a business and talent perspective.” Chamber Operations “The Chamber membership-based orga nization and members are our number one priority. We have been in existence since 1948 but today’s Chamber is much different than in the past. We know we have to evolve and adapt over time to sustain ourselves and remain com petitive. We have evolved to remain relevant.” She elaborated, “In moving forward we want ed to maintain consistency with current marketing materials, but also recognize the value of combining forces and working with groups of communities that are similar or comple mentary in what they have to offer entrepre neurs and employers.” This approach is es sential when working on regional issues like Global Brand Johnson empha sized, “We want to be a beacon for rural prosperity and resiliency. We want to use the world name of Vi dalia Onion as a marketing tool. It’s part of our history, our heritage and commu nity pride that’s already there. Marketing experts actually laughed in our fac es because we already had a community brand not being used effectively.” She said of the new brand, it’s timeless, it says we treasure our storied regional heritage and ap ply its meaningful lessons to promote forward prog ress. It is cutting edge, with fresh perspectives and in novative ideas to keep our region at the forefront of commerce and culture. It is diverse. We value the viewpoints of a varied community and audience and seek to create growth of all who live and work in our region. It’s energetic and fosters a stimulating atmosphere to young and established profession als alike. It is industrious, promoting a productive, business-oriented environ ment perfect for putting down roots, creating fruit ful partnerships and spur ring meaningful growth. McComas summa rized, “The (Vidalia On ion) brand has tremen dous resonance across the world. We want to drive national attention. I am not talking about local or regional, but everyone on national basis. People out side this area value that name. They may say, We don’t know if its Lyon, France, or Lyons, Georgia, but we do know Vidalia.’ The whole idea with the brand of Vidalia is we can attract attention.” Ohoopee River Conservation District now offering feral swine control services The Ohoopee River Conservation District is excited to announce their participation in the Geor gia Association of Conser vation Districts’ (GACD) Feral Swine District Initia tive. Landowners located within Emanuel, Mont gomery, Toombs, Treutlen, and Wheeler counties are invited to participate in the District’s feral swine con trol services. Feral swine have be come increasingly detri mental in Georgia, causing significant damage to ag ricultural crops and natu ral resources throughout the state. The economic impact of damage caused by feral swine in Georgia is estimated at over $150 million. Feral swine are one of the greatest invasive species challenges facing Georgia. Following an Initiative spearheaded by the Brier Creek Conservation Dis trict, Conservation Dis tricts throughout Georgia are partnering with GACD to acquire feral swine con trol equipment and are contracting with local Hog Control Custodians to eradicate feral swine with in the District. Lynn Jonnson, Chair of the Ohoopee River Conservation District, says, “Due to the tre mendous financial and informational assistance of GACD, we have been able to purchase a Jager Pro feral hog trapping sys tem for our District. Feral hogs have caused tremen dous damage to crops, to our land and landscapes, as well as polluting our water resources. Through this program, we hope to be part of controlling and eradicating these pests.” The Ohoopee River Conservation District serves as the local voice for soil and water conser vation with producers and landowners in Emmanual, Montgomery, Toombs, Treutlen, and Wheeler counties. If you are interested in hog control services, please contact the Dis trict’s Hog Control Cus todian, John McDonald, Jr. at 912-245-2173 or mcdonald40697 (a)gmail. com. For more informa tion about GACD’s Feral Swine District Initiative, visit www.gacd.us/ferals- wine, email info(a)gacd.us or call 1-833-411-GACD.