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THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS, WEDNESDAY. SEPTEMBER 23, 2009 - PAGE 5A
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Saying Goodbye
The Commerce Downtown Development Authority held a drop-in recep
tion for Hasco Craver last Friday afternoon so people could say goodbye
to Craver (pictured with wife Rebecca, center), who has accepted a job with
the Northeast Georgia Development Commission. Talking to the Cravers are,
clockwise from front left, the Rev. Carlton Allen, Mayor Charles L. Hardy Jr.,
Sammy Thomason and David Sanders.
Jackson County Earns 'Certified
Work Ready Community' Status
By Mark Beardsley
Jackson County will be
among the next Georgia
counties to be designated
as Work Ready under a fed
eral program of the same
name.
That designation by Gov.
Sonny Perdue, which has
economic development
implications for the coun
ty has been delayed by an
unexpectedly slow verifica
tion of numbers of Jackson
County residents to receive
Work Ready certification
after taking exams.
“We needed to have 652
tested," chamber president
Shane Short reported to
his board of directors last
Friday. “The report finally
came in. We are at 719."
Short praised Howard
Ledford, the chamber direc
tor heading up the effort.
Ledford is coordinator of
instruction at the Commerce
campus of Lanier Technical
College.
“We owe Howard a real
sense of gratitude," Short
said, adding that official
word that the county is
“a certified Work Ready
Community" is expected
this week.
Gina Mitsdarffer, chair
man of the chamber board,
Lanier Tech’s Howard
Ledford led the Jackson
County effort to become
a certified Work Ready
community.
pointed out that a lot of
other communities that
sought or are seeking the
same status have full-time
staff working toward it.
The Work Ready pro
gram certifies employees
at platinum, gold, silver and
bronze levels as a means
of demonstrating their
abilities. Of the 719 people
tested, six ranked at the
platinum level, 183 at the
gold level, 409 at the sil
ver level and 121 earned
bronze status.
The news on the cham
ber’s budget front was also
a little better, according to
Keith Johnson, treasurer.
The chamber finished
August $3,607 in the black,
bringing its year-to-date def
icit down to almost $5,000.
Asked if the board could
expect the chamber to fin
ish 2009 in the black, Short
stated that the chamber is
“absolutely moving in that
direction."
Dues revenue — the cham
ber’s major income stream
— continues to falter some
what, but a county map
being produced in-house is
providing an unexpected
infusion of cash. With rev
enue budgeted at $10,000,
income from advertising
sales has already hit $31,000
and is expected to reach
$35,000.
'The map’s been a good
thing for us," said Short in
an understatement. “We
made a good decision in
bringing it in-house."
Another major effort
to shore up the revenue
stream is a membership
drive just getting under way.
The chamber has formed 10
teams and has rounded up
a variety of prizes as incen
tives. The kickoff event is
this Friday.
It's Slow, But Jackson Still
Getting Industrial Prospects
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
‘Knee-Jerk’ Reaction To
Kids’ Prank ‘Shameful’
Editor:
An incident happened
weeks ago where five
young girls, all students,
exercised poor judgment
and pulled a prank aimed
at yet another student. It
was a simple prank that
should not have hap
pened. Who among us
hasn't been a prankster,
especially in their teen
years?
These are not hardened
criminals, juvenile delin
quents or even, "unruly
children" as stated on
the police department's
incident report which
also included charges of
criminal trespass, loiter
ing and prowling, and
contributing to the delin
quency of a minor and
curfew violation. They
are kids 13 to barely 17
years old! The incident:
throwing an egg at a
house! One egg. And a
roll of toilet paper.
There were conflict
ing stories of how the
criminal trespass charge
came about. According
to the arresting offi
cer, it had to do with a
state law that prohibits
entry into a cemetery at
night. If the intent had
been to vandalize head
stones or other cemetery
property, this would be
a valid charge. Not the
case here. A couple of the
girls tried to hide at the
edge of the cemetery to
avoid being detected by
a man in a slowly driv
en pickup truck. Then
it became trespass onto
the property of the house
that was egged. Despite
a claim of having vid
eotape evidence of this
encroachment, none was
produced. Apparently the
egg itself was the tres
passer.
So here we are with
five vandals, as headlined
large bold print in The
Commerce News the fol
lowing week, at 1:00 a.m.,
being sought by a man in
an old truck, yelled at by
police to come out of
hiding, taken into cus
tody, scared to the point
where one of the girls
wet herself, then threat
ened with being taken
to jail and the YDC by
an intimidating officer
with no apparent com
passion for children, who
thought that nervous
smiling, giggling and a
statement by one of (girls
that) the punishment
was too harsh, warranted
"unruly child" charges
against all five.
Even the victims told
the officer that they only
wanted to scare the girl
(no problem) but the offi
cer chose to take the hard
criminal route and arrest
and handcuff the two
oldest and send them to
the county lockup. The
others, being younger
and without previous
records, were released
to the custody of a par
ent, a request previously
denied by the arresting
officer because it was "a
state matter now."
Other consequences
were: an attempt by the
school Beta Club to expel
the students from the
club; the implied loss of
scholarship possibilities;
punishment in the school
athletic program by hav
ing some of the girls run
laps and polish helmets
(although this incident
obviously had noth
ing to do with school),
in addition to punish
ments imposed by par
ents. These were for the
most part honor students,
participants in mentoring
programs, children very
active in church youth
projects and school sports.
Hardly the criminal types,
but treated so.
True, the girls should
not have snuck off from
a birthday celebration in
the middle of the night
with the intent of egging
a house. The dangers of
doing so in this day and
time are obvious. But
the knee-jerk reaction
of the police and press
to turn something more
than what it actually was
is shameful to say the
least.
Bob Reynolds
Commerce
— Change Provides Thrills, Scares
Cont. from Page 4A
Georgia. I'll miss waving
hello through storefront
windows and learning
the intricacies of local
vernacular from our
downtown hairdress
ers. I'll miss seeing that
little boy's reaction as he
recognizes Santa Claus'
arrival at the Christmas
Parade. I'll miss work
ing with local property
owners as they make
rehab decisions that
undoubtedly liven up
the downtown's built
environment. Most of
all, I'll miss the relation
ships I've built with all
the community mem
bers who care about the
health of our downtown.
While I'm apprehen
sive about the change
in my professional path,
I'm very excited to start
helping communities all
across Northeast Georgia
realize their potential as
great places to live, work
and play. My experiences
in downtown Commerce
have prepared me to
begin working with
communities on remedy
ing transportation and
utility issues as well as
economic development
and historic preservation
concerns. Working in
this region allows me to
remain an active part of
our community, while
joining the team of sev
eral other communities.
I'm eager to learn more
about our region and its
intricacies. I'm motivated
to begin troubleshooting
with a much larger area
to continue being an
agent of positive change
in our society. Again,
the more I type, the less
frightened I feel.
Although you may
soon see a new face
walking the streets of
downtown Commerce,
please remember the
fun times we had, the
successes we shared,
and most of all, the
wonderful camaraderie
we enjoyed as a team
working towards making
Commerce an even bet
ter place. Me, I'll never
forget it.
Hasco Craver is the for
mer executive director of
the Commerce Downtown
Development Authority.
He lives in Commerce.
CHS, JCCHS Get $5,000 Work Ready Grants
By Mark Beardsley
The economy may be
slow, but companies con
tinue to look at Jackson
County as the potential
location of new plants.
Reporting to his
board of directors last
Friday morning, Jackson
County Area Chamber
of Commerce president
Shane Short announced
that three new prospects
expressed an interest in
local industrial sites.
“Now we’re seeing
some more distribution
centers," he said. “They
range from a few hun
dred thousand square
feet to 750,000 square
feet," he said, adding
that the prospects are
“looking at a number of
our buildings."
“I keep hearing the
economy is improving
and we are out of this
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thing (the recession),"
Short said. “I don’t know
what that means, but we
are seeing more activ
ity."
Short reported that 20
state economic develop
ment project managers
spent an hour on a bus
tour of sites in Jackson
County recently.
“They were quite sur
prised about the amount
of product we have out
there," he stated.
Jackson currently
boasts 5.7 million square
feet of available buildings
plus 30.1 million square
feet of sites “just about
pad-ready" for construc
tion.
With little construc
tion of spec buildings
taking place anywhere,
Jackson’s abundance of
buildings and building-
ready sites will be an
advantage, Short specu
lated.
“My guess is we’ll be
in a really good posi
tion when (the recession)
ends," he said.
On a related matter, a
new chamber “economic
development alliance"
will hold its first meet
ing Monday, Sept. 28. It’s
a newly formed group
whose basic purpose is
to raise money for the
chamber’s economic
development efforts.
Short reported that there
is a lot of interest in the
alliance.
“It’s a great opportunity
to get a lot more people
involved in economic
development in Jackson
County," he said. “We’re
getting a lot of feedback
from the people we’ve
invited, particularly from
developers."
Commerce High School
and Jackson County
Comprehensive High
Schools are among 56
Georgia high schools to
receive $5,000 Work Ready
training grants, Gov. Sonny
Perdue has announced.
The grants will provide
three-year access to skills-
gap training software .which
help students improve their
Work Ready Certificate
levels. The funding was
made available through the
American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act.
Georgia’s Work Ready
program is based on a
skills assessment and certi
fication for job seekers and
a job profiling system for
businesses. By identifying
both the needs of business
es and the available skills
of Georgia’s workforce, the
state can more effectively
ensure that it is providing
the right talent for the right
jobs.
Each school will provide
the Work Ready assess
ment to at least 50 per
cent of its senior class each
year for three years and
will incorporate the train
ing tools in its curriculum
to ensure all interested stu
dents have access to it.
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