Jekyll. (June 2022 Chair's Column)

Jekyll.

Jekyll Island… aaaahhhh!  What a great Spring Workshop!  Congratulations to Cal Wray and his Committee, as well as the Augusta Economic Development Authority staff.  Also, thanks to our Spring Workshop Sponsors for supporting the event (and to Jessica Hood, our Sponsorship Chair who coordinated/coerced our sponsors for support!)  I hope everyone who attended enjoyed the sessions and the speakers, as well as the chance to see each other in a beautiful location.  I’ll have to admit to a little envy of Cal and his team – our old friend COVID caused us to cancel the Spring Workshop in 2020 on Jekyll, the event that I would’ve planned.  Oh well – maybe I’ll have a chance to do it again.

I bet I’m not the only one of us with a special feeling about Jekyll.  When I was a little boy growing up in Millen, Jekyll Island was magical to me. I remember making the trip towards Savannah and the Coast, down Highway 17, driving through Brunswick, the smell of the factories and the paper plants… turning onto the Jekyll Island Causeway.  I think it was the first beach I ever saw.  Over the years, our family kept visiting Jekyll.  It was a place, as referred to in the legislation that created the Jekyll Island Authority, “available to people of average income” – a phrase that described my family pretty well.  (As I got older, I discovered that my family had a strong connection to Jekyll of a different kind – the bridge is named for my Uncle M.E., which is a cool story that I’d be happy to share with you the next time I see you.)

In recent years, growth and development around the Golden Isles have changed the Jekyll experience.  I prefer to take I-95 around Brunswick and avoid taking the Sidney Lanier Bridge, as my friends will confirm my bridge phobia.  The Jekyll Island Club is rejuvenated, the hotels along the beach have been replaced or updated with nicer ones and great amenities.  The Jekyll Island Authority, with the recent leadership of Jones Hooks, our great friend and GEDA Honorary Life Member, has done an outstanding job of upgrading Jekyll for the present and the future.

When I visit Jekyll these days, I sometimes miss the quaintness of times past on the Island. I remind myself, however, of the job that we do – making the lives of our citizens better, bringing opportunities to Georgians all over the map – and think of how Jekyll Island is a perfect place for GEDA to meet and celebrate.  Jekyll is economic development for all of us – I’m glad that we have a chance to enjoy it.

I hope each of you has a chance to enjoy family and friends this summer, relax, and reboot.  Our jobs ask a lot of us, particularly on an emotional level – and I hope you can take care of yourselves.  I’ll look forward to seeing you again when we get together in August. Take care.