The January 2013 issue of GeorgiaTrend magazine features an article highlighting the current economic trends in Bryan County; something that Bryan County Commission Chairman Jimmy Burnsed sees as nothing but positive for the county.
“It is nice to get that kind of recognition in a magazine that is state-wide and is read by a lot of people out of state as well,” Burnsed said. “It gives us the opportunity to say that we don’t say any longer ‘woe is me,’ but some things are happening that are really good for our economy.”
The featured piece in the publication which refers to itself as “The Magazine of Georgia Business, Politics and Economic Development,” focused on the county’s success in weathering the recent recession, as well as population growth, housing, and the costs and benefits of doing business here.
Burnsed, a longtime local banker as well as politician, said he thought the magazine was impressed by what was going on not only in the Interstate Centre industrial park in north Bryan County but the reinvigoration of the construction industry in Richmond Hill.
“We are building homes again and our lot inventory is down, where a lot of areas in Georgia are still having problems with housing. They have too many lots and nobody building on them. But that is not us. Our school system is still growing and everything about Bryan County is growing. I think they were impressed by all of that and that’s why you see in the article a strong emphasis on some development and housing in Richmond Hill,” he said.
Josh Fenn, director of the Development Authority of Bryan County was excited GeorgiaTrend chose to feature Bryan County again.
“It is a good publication to tell the Bryan County story in. We have received a lot of positive feedback. It is always good to highlight the good things that are going on in the county,” he said.
Burnsed noted that the January issue is not the first time the magazine has featured the county.
“They have been good to us in Bryan County, we have had about three positive articles in it in the last eight or nine years. It does well for the community because when we go to Atlanta or someplace often when we tell people we are from Richmond Hill they ask if that is near Augusta. And then you tell them it is just south of Savannah on I-95, the say ‘Oh yeah.’ So things like this get us some recognition out there, especially when people are looking for industrial sites. And with people who have taken a job in Savannah who might want to live in Richmond Hill or north Bryan,” he said.
The magazine article was created via telephone interviews with various officials and business people including: Pembroke Mayor Mary Warnell, James Scarboro general manager of East Coast operations for Matson Logistics, Paul Brooksher, Bryan County Schools superintendent, Richmond Hill Mayor Harold Fowler, as well as Burnsed and Fenn. Local photographer Russ Bryant provided photographs for the piece.
In the end the publicity gained from the GeorgiaTrend piece will be nothing less than a shot in the arm for the county Burnsed thinks.
“I see the article as very positive. We have had a lot of feedback from it. I think people are somewhat surprised things are going as well as they are here. I think we need this kind of positive outlook going on in the midst of a still struggling economy,” he said.
To read the GoergiaTrend article about Bryan County visit: www.georgiatrend.com/January-2013/Bryan-County-Economic-Power/