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THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2010
Vandiver named president of Lanier Tech
JHS graduate has worked 34 years at technical college
RON JACKSON, commissioner of the
Technical College System of Georgia,
announced last week his selection of
Russell Vandiver as the new president
of Lanier Technical College.
Jackson made the announcement
Thursday after his choice of Vandiver
was approved by the state board that
oversees the Technical College System
of Georgia during the board’s monthly
meeting in Atlanta.
Lanier Tech has five campuses, includ
ing those in Commerce and Winder.
“I know that Russell Vandiver will
be an outstanding president of Lanier
Technical College,” said Jackson. “He’s
devoted his entire career working with
his fellow faculty and staff to build
Lanier Tech into a world-class destina
tion for the very best in technical educa
tion. He’s a nationally recognized expert
on workforce training and economic
development and has a firm grasp of
the expectations of the businesses and
industries that depend on the college’s
highly-skilled graduates for their work
force. Most of all, he’s focused on the
needs of the students and the knowledge
and skills that they must have to com
pete in the 21st Century workforce.”
Vandiver, 57, has served as Lanier
Tech’s interim president since February
after the previous president, Mike Moye,
left to become president of Central
Georgia Technical College in Macon.
Vandiver has worked for the college
for 34 years, with almost all of that
time as the vice president for economic
development. He also serves as the exec
utive director of the college’s Center for
Innovation in Manufacturing.
“I’m honored that commissioner
Jackson and the TCSG State Board
have chosen to place
their faith and trust
in me to be the next
president of Lanier
Technical College,”
said Vandiver. “Tve
devoted my entire
career to the college,
and now I’m blessed
with an opportunity
of a lifetime to lead
one of the best tech
nical colleges in the
state.”
Vandiver added, “I’ve been witness to
some unbelievable enrollment growth
at the college which is due in large part
to the hard work of my colleagues and
our previous presidents. Their efforts
have made Lanier Technical College
a respected institution that’s widely
known for offering some of the state’s
top technical education, workforce
development and adult education pro
grams. I look forward to working with
my fellow staff and faculty as we build
on the college’s success and continue to
serve both the career goals of our stu
dents and training demands of business
and industry throughout our region.”
Lanier Tech has a rapidly growing
student population in a service deliv
ery area that includes Banks, Barrow,
Dawson, Forsyth, Hall, Jackson and
Lumpkin counties. Last year, the col
lege enrolled 6,850 students, which was
a 21 percent increase over the previous
year.
As vice president for economic devel
opment, Vandiver has managed Lanier
Tech’s customized contract training for
more than 2,500 businesses and indus
tries. He coordinated the college’s deliv
ery of training through Quick Start, a
TCSG program that has contributed to
the creation of more than 30,000 jobs
throughout northeast Georgia.
His many achievements also include
a collaborative agreement with the
Georgia Institute of Technology that
established the Ammonia Refrigeration
Training Facility on the Oakwood cam
pus in 2001. Each year, the program
trains more than 600 U.S. and inter
national students from the ammonia
refrigeration industry.
Vandiver helped to open and lead the
Center for Innovation in Manufacturing,
located on the Oakwood campus, in
2006. He was also instrumental in the
creation of the college's Manufacturing
Development Center, a business incu
bator in Gainesville, which opened in
2007. Both operations have proven suc
cessful in helping the region and the
state address the many challenges fac
ing local manufacturing in the highly
competitive world marketplace.
Vandiver has a master’s degree in
public administration from Brenau
University, a specialist in technical edu
cation from the University of Georgia,
and a bachelor’s degree from West
Georgia College. He is a graduate of
Jefferson High School.
In 2007, the Georgia Legislature
issued a proclamation that declared
him to be the “Dean of Vice Presidents
of Economic Development” through
out the Technical College System of
Georgia.
He has been married to his wife,
Laura, for the last 35 years. They have
a son, Josh, and two grandchildren,
Jackson and Taylor. Laura is also a
graduate of Jefferson High School.
Hoschton may take over water, sewer operations next spring
BY MARK BEARDSLEY
HOSCHTON may resume
operation of its water and
sewer services next spring.
The Jackson County Water
and Sewerage Authority
agreed Thursday to let man
ager Eric Klerk begin the
process of getting Hoschton
to take charge of its facili
ties. The authority took over
operations of the Hoschton
services both this past winter
under a mutual aid agree
ment and then continued to
operate them under a con
tract that expires April 6.
The authority manages
both systems on a contract
that covers its costs, but it
was not the intent of the
authority to become the per
manent contract operator for
Four qualify in
Pendergrass
FOUR PEOPLE qualified
last week for the Nov. 2 City
of Pendergrass election.
Harris Denver Elrod, Bill
Hazelgreen, William Ellis
and John Pethel, incumbent,
have qualified for the two
at-large council seats up for
grabs.
The council seats current
ly held by Judy Stowe and
Pethel will be on the ballot
in November.
the city.
“The intent was to get
Hoschton back on its feet
and get them going,” said
Klerk.
He has scheduled a meet
ing with Hoschton officials
for Sept. 15.
According to Klerk,
Hoschton has some options.
It can bid the work out to a
management firm or hire its
own person or persons.
“We would help them in
the transition,” said Klerk.
Another option, Klerk
admitted, was for the author
ity to increase the contract
fees and continue to serve
the town.
“I don't know that that’s
(contract operations) the
business we want to be in
and I don’t know how to
square that with our charter,”
he told the authority.
Prior to the county assum
ing the responsibility for its
sewer operations, Hoschton
was about to spend a lot of
money for new waste treat
ment equipment. But the
authority’s sewer crew head
ed by Mark Dudziak was
able to make the existing
system work effectively.
“We are so far exceed
ing the requirements of their
permit it’s ridiculous,” Klerk
pointed out.
Klerk offered another rea
son for not renewing the
contract.
“We’re a small operation,
stretched kind of thin,” he
said. “Money aside, it can be
a logistics problem as well,”
he said.
Dudziak agreed. He noted
that the authority’s waste
permit is up for renewal
this year, and that renewal
“will require a great deal of
time.”
He also said that if
Hoschton hires someone
who has certification in both
water treatment and sew
age treatment operations,
the town could minimize its
costs.
“With a dual certified
operator, they could do with
one person,” he said.
Hoschton’s waste treat
ment plant is permitted by
the Environmental Protection
Division (EPD) to treat
100,000 gallons per day.
Constitutional amendment information online
THE GEORGIA Secretary of State’s website
has summaries of proposed general amendments
to the state’s constitution and the statewide refer
endum that will be decided by voters in the Nov.
2 general election.
The summaries of the constitutional amend
ments and statewide referendum in their entirety
are available at www.sos.ga.gov/election. They
are also available on the secretary of state’s MVP
(My Voter Page) website.
Printed copies of the summaries are available
from county elections superintendent or the sec
retary of state. To obtain a printed copy from the
secretary of state, call 404-656-2871.
Yates plans ‘town hall’ meeting Tuesday
BRUCE YATES, the District 3 repre
sentative on the Jackson County Board of
Commissioners, will hold a “town hall”
meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 14,
at the Hoschton Depot, about transporta
tion and the special purpose local option
sales tax (SPLOST) vote coming up in
November.
Norton says county needs
more affordable housing
BY MARK BEARDSLEY
IF JACKSON County
wants to pull out of its eco
nomic slump, it must build
more affordable houses, said
Gainesville-based realtor
Frank Norton Jr.
Norton spoke last Wednesday
to the membership of the
Jackson County Area Chamber
of Commerce, whose presi
dent, Shane Short, said Norton
has “a vast knowledge of real
estate and economic develop
ment.”
Norton’s topic: “The good,
the bad, the ugly and the oppor
tunity for Jackson County
between all that.”
Jackson County’s biggest
asset, Norton told his audi
ence, is its more than 11,000
acres zoned for industrial
development. One of its big
gest drawbacks, he said, is a
proliferation of developments
targeting high-income wage
earners and not enough houses
for workers.
“For every plant, you have
two executives,” Norton said,
“and 150 workers. We’ve got
to change our perspective.”
To back up that position,
Norton presented slides show
ing data suggesting that the
county has far too many expen
sive houses and too few in the
under-$250,000 range.
“Jackson County’s housing
expectations have been too
high,” he said. “We wanted to
fill the county with executive
housing. It’s a great vision,
but if we are going to wait on
that, we’ll wait several genera
tions.”
For several years, Norton was
an annual speaker, presenting
his “Native Intelligence” eco
nomic forecast to the cham
ber.
In this climate, Norton
advised, people need to accept
the new “reality.”
“It is what it is. ... Now
what are we going to do about
that. ... There are tremendous
opportunities for us.”
Norton’s vision of the “new
reality” includes a housing
market focusing on houses that
sell for below $150,000.
“There is a shrinking inven
tory of houses selling for below
$150,000,” he said. “Those
are still selling.” On the con
trary, houses selling for over
$750,000 “are off 90 percent.”
Norton predicted that mort
gage rates will stay in the
4.25-5.5 percent range through
2011. He also predicted that
the wave of housing foreclo
sures is not over, but housing
sales are picking up. He said
for the first seven months of
2010, there have been more
houses sold in Jackson County
than in all of 2009.
“The majority of them were
under $150,000. That’s the
sweet spot,” he insisted.
As of Aug. 1, Norton said the
county had a six-month sup
ply of $150,000 or less costly
houses. It has a 60-month
supply of houses selling for
$750,000 or more. Jackson
County, he said, has 178 new
houses or houses under con
struction, whereas “we usually
have 450 to 500.”
Jackson County planning
director Gina Mitsdarfer said
the county issued 37 build
ing permits for single-family
houses so far this year; Norton
said the county issued 856 per
mits in 2006.
Because of the demand for
lower-end houses, Norton pre
dicted that beginning in the
fourth quarter Jackson County
residents “will start to see
appreciation return” to houses
of $250,000 or less.
“We’re seeing stability in the
marketplace,” he declared.
Norton also said Jackson
County needs more retail busi
nesses and should organize a
“shop at home” campaign to
keep sales tax dollars in the
county.
“All you Walmart shoppers
are leaving your sales tax dol
lars in other counties, and they
thank you,” Norton said.
Those comments led Frank
Ginn, the Republican nominee
to succeed Ralph Hudgens in
the 47th District seat in the
Georgia Senate, later to sug
gest that the county should
give Walmart land for a new
store.
Norton also said Jackson
County has, at its current rate
of usage, a 1,255-month sup
ply of finished, ready-to-build-
on vacant lots.
“We’re going to have way
too many lots for a long, long
time,” he promised.
Norton urged the county
to capitalize on its access to
Interstate 85, focus on retain
ing and creating jobs, which
will improve consumer con
fidence, which in return, will
improve business’ and inves
tors’ confidence.
“I believe we are in recov
ery,” Norton closed. “This
county is in recovery. Now it
may be in a 12-step program
and we’re in the first step, but
we are in recovery.”
Letter of Appreciation
This is a letter of apprecia
tion for everyone who assisted
with the fire at our home.
Thank you to all of the fire
men, policemen, and all other
emergency personnel for their
dedication and courage and for
risking their lives on our
behalf.
To the Red Cross, family,
friends, neighbors and eve
ryone else, we would like to
express our sincere apprecia
tion for your help and thought
fulness in our time of need. We
are grateful for each act of
kindness and for everything
that you have done for us.
May God bless each and
every one of you.
Nedra and Danny Alewine
286 Skyline Drive
Jefferson, GA
BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONE
REPLACEMENT SEMINAR
At Tiger Town Pharmacy
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
@ 7:00 PM
Kim Bost. Pharm. D.Will Discuss:
• What is Hormone Replacement Therapy/Bioidentical Hormone
Replacement Therapy?
• Explanation of the menstrual cycle and female anatomy
• Hormones - what they are and how they work
• How Stress, diet and thyroid dysfunction fit into the hormone
picture
• Importance of hormone balance and Goals of BHRT
*
4
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Heavy porcelain-coated grid for easy
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