Growing Rural Georgia
Growing Rural Georgia, specifically Toccoa-Stephens County is our goal at your Chamber of Commerce. Increasing the draw of tourism, inviting new and existing small business retail, restaurants, and services to consider expanding to our community, along with expansion or industry and agriculture.
As recently reported, “Georgia Department of Economic Development’s (GDEcD) Rural Georgia Initiatives (RGI) division has participated in community meetings in 135 Georgia counties to date. In these meetings, local leaders are charged with addressing the community’s strengths and challenges. “Brain drain” is a topic that has been discussed in almost every meeting the division has had with community leaders and economic developers across rural Georgia. “Brain drain”, is loosely defined as higher educated and more talented residents leaving an area after high school or college and taking their knowledge and skills elsewhere.” Some of the most talented young people leave their rural roots to move to more urban areas to further their education or pursue job opportunities.
But recent census data has shown that millennials, those born between 1981 and 1996, are increasingly choosing to live in suburbs and smaller cities. So, the obvious question is “how do we turn the weekend tourist visits into something more long term?”
As reported by apolitical.com from the CASE-STUDY / Cities Transport and Infrastructure:
“Minnesota's rural towns are fighting brain drain by rebranding. But Ben Winchester, a rural sociologist at the University of Minnesota, made a crucial discovery. Looking at census data from 2010, Winchester discovered that although young people in their twenties were moving out of Minnesota’s rural towns, in almost all of them, people in their thirties and forties were actually moving in. After surveying realtors and newcomers, they discovered that the common motivations were a desire to leave the stress and bustle of the city for small community life. People who had established their careers in the city were tiring of its bustle, and the rural towns, with their natural beauty and better quality of life, were seen as a viable alternative.” This is good news when you live in beautiful Toccoa-Stephens County.
We recognize the two challenges we face in our community: holding on to our local talent and inviting new talent in. Below are some of the ways our local leaders have been working here in Toccoa-Stephens County to address the challenge:
A cross-section of our local community organizations and government came together just a few years ago with the goal of rebranding your community, to create a new community-wide logo and website to attract businesses and citizens to “Visit Toccoa-Stephens County” and visittoccoa.com. Helping us to point toward the same goal by sending a consistent message.
Placemaking, is another avenue we have tackled in Toccoa, giving our community a sense of place, by creating spaces that residents are proud of, such as The Links at Lake Toccoa and Reflections Event Center, Henderson Falls Park, Emory Johnson Park and Paul Anderson Park.
We are proud to showcase the quality of life in our community. The emphasis of the arts is strong. The City of Toccoa took on the Ritz Theatre which has now been fully restored to it’s historic origin with a total renovation. Since then under the new marquis we have hosted many a movie premiere filmed in Toccoa, live entertainment, shows, concerts and family movies. The Ida Cox Music Series hosted every Saturday night throughout the summer brings hundreds downtown with their favorite chair to enjoy a concert on the square. The restaurants and food trucks serving while we do community.
We also promote experiential learning in local careers. Through our Workbased Learning Program offered to our students at Stephens County High School our local students gain valuable experience through opportunities to work with our local manufacturers. This year the program, lead by Mrs. Pam Hill under the direction of Superintendent Dr. Daniel Oldham will again fill 400 plus jobs with our high school students.
We have also built strong adult and youth leadership programs through our Chamber, to engage and inspire the next group of leaders in our community. After realizing the opportunities available, this often sparks an interest and desire for our young leaders to stay or move back after college in the effort to give back to the community and raise a family here.
Toccoa-Stephens County is also involved in a Regional Tourism Roundtable together with surrounding counties, lead by the University of Georgia Archway Partnership Program – with the goal of connecting with our neighboring communities to see how working together and collaborating can help the entire region. Encouraging increased exposure for tourism and growth.
The approaches to how communities can combat the brain drain are limitless. You can rest assured, we are committed as your Chamber to work closely with our Stephens County Development Authority, City and County Commissions, and Downtown Development Authority teams to continue to build on the foundation laid by all who have gone before us and lead our amazing rural small town in northeast Georgia to unprecedented growth in the years to come. We welcome you to help us write and share the story. Toccoa-Stephens County is a great place to do business and a greater place to do life.