Capacity Building
Jim Youngquist, Danny Bivins and Langford Holbrook hosted the SouthEastern Regional Directors Institute (SERDI) Council of Peers. Courtney Tobin and a representative from U.S. EPA Region 4 gave an overview on Brownfields redevelopment efforts throughout the southeast and ideas for partnerships, and Skip Teaster reviewed several economic development initiatives. In other SERDI news, Maryland recently joined, bringing its total members to 11.
The Institute for Georgia Environmental Leadership (IGEL) celebrated its fifth anniversary at Callaway Gardens. More than half of the graduates attended the two-day event, which featured keynote addresses by Lee Thomas, former director of EPA, and Carol Couch, head of Georgia EPD, as well as the premiere of a video that highlights the Fanning Institute’s role in the creation and continuity of IGEL. Kate Smith and Christa Frangiamore organized the event.
Kim Anderson organized and facilitated the second session of LEAD21, a year-long leadership development program for 75 academic leaders from land grant colleges and universities. Taking place in Kansas City and featuring a keynote address by President Elson Floyd of the University of Missouri System, the session explored innovative organizations, leading change and the increasing expectations for higher education to be more entrepreneurial.
Louise Hill and Emily Davis facilitated the UGA Graduate School Leadership Academy which brought thirty-one students to a three day program held at Amicalola Falls State Park. Karen Holt was one of the featured speakers, addressing “Understanding and Succeeding in the Workplace.”
Resident leaders from housing authorities across Georgia gathered at the Georgia Center for their annual conference, which featured “I’ve Got the Power”, a workshop led by Karen Holt and Raye Rawls that addressed communication skills, conflict resolution, leadership style, and strategic planning.
Exploration
Paul Kreager and a DCA representative led a town hall meeting in LaFayette, the county seat of Walker County, to build a work plan based on community feedback and input. This tightly structured process involved gathering, vetting, and summarizing information, all while building the spirit of community. Thirteen of the 30 attendees came forward after hearing Paul’s summary and “altar call” for volunteers. For more about the meeting and the town’s hope to become a stop for a vintage locomotive that originates in Chattanooga, see
The Fanning Institute, along with GA Tech, Georgia State, and the Georgia Department of Labor, co-hosted the Southern Growth Policies Board’s “Georgia Policy Dialogue: Building the Next Workforce” in Atlanta. The event, which drew together over 60 Georgia leaders in workforce development, examined challenges and opportunities for assuring the high-quality workforce necessitated by global competition for quality jobs and investment. It also provided students a “service learning” experience through their participation in and facilitation of small group discussions. The UGA students, selected through the Terry College of Business “Leadership Scholars” program, were the shining stars of the event, according to participants Karen Holt and Mac Brown.
Courtney Tobin and Dennis Epps joined Talbot and Muscogee County leaders for a two-hour town hall meeting to examine and discuss results from the eight county community needs assessment conducted by Fanning and CVIOG faculty. In the assessment, community members and high school students identified after-school activities and programs as one of the greatest needs of the community, and representatives from several local organizations attended the meeting to discuss how those programs could be brought to or expanded in Talbot County to help serve the youth of the community. Other topics of interest included concerns about the upcoming expansion of Ft. Benning and the location of the new KIA plant in the region. The assessment project will be featured in the upcoming publication of the PSO magazine.
Paul Kreager and Randal Morris co-facilitated a strategic planning and training retreat for the newly created Pickens County Airport Authority. The PCAA was created during the 2006 session of the Georgia General Assembly and is responsible for business development, management and operations and expansion of the airport facility in Pickens County. During its planning and training sessions, the Board defined its vision and mission, and adopted short and long term plans of work.
Implementation
The Fanning Institute has finished the Strategic Marketing Plan for the UGA Golf Course, which began eight months ago with the appointment of a committee representing the Golf Course, Auxiliary Services, Public Service and Outreach, the College of Environment and Design, patrons, the Georgia Section of the PGA, the Athens-Clarke County Planning Department, the Classic Center, and Clemson University. The committee received input through surveys of patrons and representatives from 35 collegiate golf courses across the United States, as well as interviews with area golf professionals and collegiate golf course directors. In addition to the work done by Danny Bivins, Langford Holbrook, Skip Teaster, Tyson Young, and Jim Youngquist, students from the College of Environment and Design and the Grady College assisted on a new master plan for the entrance and parking area as well as the marketing plan.
