Georgia Communities Bounce Back

by Craig Lesser, Commissioner, Georgia Department of Economic Development

Georgia has a lot going for it: a strong market location, quality workforce, world-class transportation network and an exceptional quality of life. Despite this, many Georgia communities have at some time experienced definitive transitions in their economic development strategies, and usually not by choice. But the communities of Albany, Rome and Savannah – compelled by water, outsourcing and even English royalty – each have turned their economic difficulties into opportunities.

Albany, devastated by flooding twice in five years, has harnessed its river and other natural resources for economic growth. Rome, like many other southern communities, suffered from the closing of textile mills, but leveraged its strong educational institutions to attract high-tech manufacturing. And Savannah has energetically revived and protected its historic assets and promoted its port to open itself as a premier business location in the southeastern United States.

Albany rebuilds after natural disaster

After the city of Albany was ravaged twice by floods in the 1990s, it developed a master plan to embrace its premier natural resource, the Flint River. The plan included the Flint RiverQuarium, shown above, plus a natural resource center, hotel, conference center, and retail and entertainment districts on either side of the river.

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” This credo of President Theodore Roosevelt has, for many years, been the economic development philosophy of Albany. Indeed, this southwest Georgia town was founded on its proximity to the Flint River, and today is once again growing its economy around its rich, river-based heritage.

In the early 19th century, cotton growth in the state spurred the development of several townships along rivers, which provided an easy means of transporting product to market.Macon and Columbus had been established along the Ocmulgee and Chattahoochee rivers when Nelson Tift embarked on a quest to identify the head of the Flint River and settle a new town on its west bank. In 1836, Tift named this new town Albany because of its similarity to Albany, N.Y., another well-known city located at the head of a navigable river.

Since its settlement, Albany has become the primary trade center for southwest Georgia. Its rich soil continues to produce cotton as well as peanuts, corn, tobacco and more. Major employers include such globally recognized companies as Procter & Gamble,Merck & Co.,Miller Brewing Co. and M & M Mars.

The city’s growth has not gone unchecked, though. In 1994, Tropical Storm Alberto ravaged Albany with a 44-foot flood, which displaced more than 22,000 residents, damaged more than 6,500 buildings and cost a staggering $500 million in recovery costs. Even worse, many rebuilding projects had just been completed when a second devastating flood of 37 feet hit in 1998.

Together, these natural disasters served as harsh reminders of not only the river’s power, but also its potential. Despite the great devastation wrought by the floods, Albany suddenly seemed on the verge of positive change as commu- nity leaders began to, in the words of Albany-Dougherty Economic Development Commission President Timothy Martin, “revisit the river.”

» Page 2 of 4