1310 West Ridge Road P.O. Box 1720 Gainesville, GA 30503 February 2017 Pinnacle Executive Director’s Report I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new GMRC Council Members – we look forward to getting to know them and working with them in their communities!! Billy Thurmond, Dawson County Todd Levent, Forsyth County Thomas Bridges, Franklin County Natalie Crawford, Habersham County Richard Higgins, Hall County Cliff Bradshaw, Towns County As part of my goal to create a Strategic Plan for the GMRC, I am excited to announce the new Mission Statement of the Georgia Mountains Regional Commission: To serve the local governments of the Georgia Mountains Region by improving the quality of life through economic development, community planning, information technology, and workforce development to support and enhance the region’s prosperity. Council Training is scheduled for Thursday, February 23 rd beginning at 10AM and will be held at Helen City Hall. Council Training is a requirement of our council bylaws, so please make every effort to attend. Please note: the regular monthly scheduled Council Meeting will be immediately after the training session, so there will not be an evening meeting. Congratulations to Faith who had a packed house recently at the informational meeting of the 2018 Aerial Photog- raphy and LiDAR project. To date, we have 31 letters of interest, and we anticipate that this project will continue to grow and be larger than the 2015 project. The management team of GMRC recently met with new City Manager of Dawsonville, Bob Bolz. A huge welcome to Bob in his new role. There are a lot of new county and city officials, and we would welcome the opportunity to meet them and share our programs and services with them! The next City and County Managers meeting is scheduled for February 22, 2017 at 10AM at the Lavonia Depot in downtown Lavonia. Sincerely, Heather J. Feldman Executive Director
Transcript
1310 West Ridge Road
P.O. Box 1720
Gainesville, GA 30503
February 2017 Pinnacle
Executive Director’s Report
I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new GMRC Council Members – we look forward to getting to know them and working with them in their communities!!
Billy Thurmond, Dawson County
Todd Levent, Forsyth County
Thomas Bridges, Franklin County
Natalie Crawford, Habersham County
Richard Higgins, Hall County
Cliff Bradshaw, Towns County
As part of my goal to create a Strategic Plan for the GMRC, I am excited to announce the new Mission Statement of the Georgia Mountains Regional Commission:
To serve the local governments of the Georgia Mountains Region by improving the quality of life through economic development, community planning, information technology, and workforce development to support and enhance the region’s prosperity.
Council Training is scheduled for Thursday, February 23rd beginning at 10AM and will be held at Helen City Hall. Council Training is a requirement of our council bylaws, so please make every effort to attend. Please note: the regular monthly scheduled Council Meeting will be immediately after the training session, so there will not be an evening meeting.
Congratulations to Faith who had a packed house recently at the informational meeting of the 2018 Aerial Photog-raphy and LiDAR project. To date, we have 31 letters of interest, and we anticipate that this project will continue to grow and be larger than the 2015 project.
The management team of GMRC recently met with new City Manager of Dawsonville, Bob Bolz. A huge welcome to Bob in his new role. There are a lot of new county and city officials, and we would welcome the opportunity to meet them and share our programs and services with them!
The next City and County Managers meeting is scheduled for February 22, 2017 at 10AM at the Lavonia Depot in downtown Lavonia.
Sincerely,
Heather J. Feldman
Executive Director
February 2017
Page 2
Planning
Economic Development Information Services
On behalf of the Gainesville-Hall County Development Authority, a OneGeorgia Authority Equity Grant was submit-ted to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) for $500,000 in grant funding for improvements to the Lake Lanier Olympic Venue.
Congratulations to Banks County on the announcement of Diana Foods. The food processing company will invest $50 million and bring approximately 80 jobs to Banks County. GMRC is assisting the Banks County Develop-ment Authority with an EDA Grant for infrastructure im-provements.
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GAEPD) now has state funds available to assist cities and counties to remove tires from right-of-ways. Local governments and solid waste authorities can apply for funding through a reim-bursement program to cover the costs of transporting and processing these tires. Please contact the Economic Develop-ment staff at 770-538-2626 for more information.
Reminder! The next round of ARC Pre Applications are due April 14, 2017.
It is with mixed emotions that we say goodbye to Nancy Smallwood in the Economic Development Department. Nan-cy has served GMRC for over 5 years and has contributed greatly to our organization and communities we serve. Thank you Nancy for your service and best wishes with your future endeavors!
You’re invited to the 2017 Georgia Trust for Historic Preserva-tion Spring Ramble!
Discover the architectural and natural beauty of Georgia's Gateway to the Mountains. Retreat to the foothills of Appala-chia and see stunning historic houses in Gainesville, charm-ing homes in Toccoa and fascinating sites in the nearby his-toric district of Martin. Explore the incredible transfor-mation of two historic mill villages and the quaint town of Clarkesville during this mountain getaway! For more information contact Joe Rothwell at 770-538-2619.
GMRC staff met with the City of Lavonia regarding updates to water and wastewater distribution system mapping
In January, the Highest Elected Official (HEO), received a contact information update form for the US Census 2020 Lo-cal Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) Operation. Through GMRC’s contract with the Department of Community Affairs, we will be receiving additional funding to assist our cities and counties with the LUCA process. This assistance will be at no cost to you. Please contact either Faith Bryan or Brandon Car-lock at (770)538-2626, if you have questions or need assis-tance with LUCA.
The City of Dawsonville has requested assistance with up-dating water and wastewater distribution system mapping
It was a pleasure working with the City of Toccoa to com-plete the full inventory of their 26 acre cemetery. We were honored to present to the Mayor and Commission the 2016 National Association of Development Organizations Innova-tion Award for the project. Mayor Jamison turned the award over to Ms. Fredda Wheeler, City Clerk, who has worked many hours on the Cemetery and was the project manager for the GMRC project. GMRC staff member Brandon Carlock, com-pleted 99.9% of the field and office work. We are proud to have him as a member of the GMRC team.
Both Career Coaches are fully re-wrapped and ready to roll with the new WorkSource logo!
The Career Coaches participated in a Resume Workshop for participants of the Dahlonega Reporting Center - two peo-ple received assistance. After the initial workshop the Career Coach was made available to the public and ten people re-ceived assistance during the remaining 2 ½ hours in Dahlonega!
In partnership with Goodwill, the Coaches were invited to at-tend a Job Fair in Habersham held at the Goodwill Career Center.
The units participated in a 2nd outreach event for the Ninth District Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program in Franklin County.
A total of 14 individuals registered for VOS on board the Ca-reer Coaches during the month of January.
Youth staff held seven future planning and overview work-shops in Hall, Stephens, Hart and Forsyth Counties with over 200 youth participating.
There were five participants in the WorkSource GED program that completed their GED’s!
February 2017
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Event and Meeting Schedule
DATE TIME EVENT/MEETING LOCATION/HOST
February 22 10:00 am City/County Managers Meeting Lavonia Depot
February 23 10:00 am GMRC Council Training/Meeting City of Helen—City Hall
March 30 6:00 pm GMRC Council Meeting City of Cornelia
April 27 4:00 pm WorkSource Board City of Lavonia
6:00 pm GMRC Council Meeting
May 25 6:00 pm GMRC Council Meeting Dawson County
Legislative Appreciation
June 29 6:00 pm GMRC Council Meeting Hall County
July 27 4:00 pm WorkSource Board Rabun County
6:00 pm GMRC Council Meeting
August 31 6:00 pm GMRC Council Meeting City of Gainesville
September 28 6:00 pm GMRC Council Meeting White County
October 26 4:00 pm WorkSource Board Lumpkin County/City of Dahlonega
6:00 pm GMRC Council Meeting
November 16 6:00 pm GMRC Council Meeting City of Dawsonville
December 1 6:00 pm GMRC Annual Meeting Dillard House Conference Center
