Higher Education Funding

Just a quick note, but if you have time, check out President Adams' testimony to the house higher education subcommittee from yesterday. It offers a fascinating summary of the challenges faced by institutions of higher education and the steps they are taking to deal with them. It is amazing how much money UGA has to raise on its own to run our flagship university.

Inbox Goes Nuts

Ever since the peanut butter-salmonella scandal broke, I have been waiting for someone from the Peanut Corp. of America to step forward and 1) take the blame and 2) provide a resolution that the media can latch onto and provide an opportunity for forgiveness (and eventually, forgetfulness).

Apparently, this family-owned business is getting some conflicting legal advice, or just isn't getting good advice at all. Their relative inaction has probably doomed their company and is putting one of Georgia's largest agricultural industries at risk. The deaths and illnesses attributed to the contaminated peanut butter are tragic, but there are some concrete steps the company and industry need to take in order to help these families recover and the public to regain confidence in peanut butter.

The story so far: poor cleaning and inspection practices at a plant in South Georgia allowed salmonella to contaminate peanut butter that was used in more than 1,800 products nationwide. The FDA has said that PCA knowingly shipped peanut butter that was contaminated. Today, the headquarters of the company in Virginia was raided, and another plant in Texas was shut down. To date, 8 deaths and at least 550 cases of illness have been linked to contaminated peanut butter.

In looking at PCA's website, it is apparent that they are trying to get their message out. But their web page is archaic, with no background on the company or multi-media elements. The news page is simply a series of statements, etc. And the statements are too long and not attributed to an individual. There appears to be no proactive outreach. In short, this is crisis response circa 1988, and not surprisingly, the company's message is not getting through. If comments from PCA are used in any of the escalating and increasingly shrill coverage, they are buried.

This is not a time to sit back and issue statements about the past. The peanut industry needs to take dramatic action to show it has a commitment to a safe product and demonstrate concern for those impacted before an entire product's reputation is ruined.

Taking a page from Tylenol, it would behoove the industry to do the following: immediately close all PCA plants until they are inspected and certified as safe. Recall all peanut butter products aside from jars of peanut butter. Pay for healthcare for all those affected. Adapt safety standards and develop an icon that highlights that peanut butter used in a product passed a "quality test" of some sort. Proactively encourage and welcome government inspectors at all peanut butter factories on a weekly basis, and support legislation for stronger inspections. And when things have calmed down, implement an aggressive advertising and multi-media campaign to educate consumers about the facts around the issue and to convince them that peanut butter is safe once again.

Georgia grows nearly half of the nation's peanut crop. I would imagine that Georgia's peanut industry, major candy and snack food organizations, along with JIF and everyone else are ready for a resolution to this story (recognizing that part of this will be driven by various federal and state investigations).

At this point, it is probably too late to save PCA. Who, after all, will be buying from them in the future? But for the good of those who enjoy peanut butter, the entire industry and our state, let's hope peanut plants are cleaned up and the narrative begins to change -- and quickly.

It's Official: Med School Partnership Formalized

According to today's Atlanta Business Chronicle, the UGA-MCG medical school partnership is now formalized. Not sure what exactly this means, but it sure seems like good news for medical education in Georgia.

As MCG and the Regents continue to add more medical programs in other areas of the state, we at the Athens Inbox hope that the Athens expansion (and plans to add more graduates and a dental school in Augusta) can be a winning template for Georgia to grow more of its own doctors in the future, which is of critical importance to keeping our best and brightest home, and luring a few of the best and brightest from other states as well.

Putting Twitter to Work

A lot of business owners and corporate communications pros are wondering how to put new media to work for their organizations. Blogs, Wikis, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter.... It seems to be a never ending list. Business owners wonder whether social media is just a big time suck or a way to truly boost productivity and make money. Should employees be allowed to become true brand ambassadors as they communicate with customers publicly or do I need to continue to control the message on a corporate level? These are fair questions at this point, although with a cohesive plan and strategy it is possible for a company to become a part of the communities new media creates, and utilize the flexibility and interactivity of social media to better tell your story.

At Jackson Spalding, we are advising a lot of clients on new media strategy, and part of the challenge is that the applications and potential solutions are diverse, and vary with the business. So every solution has to be custom built and resources have to be dedicated to implementing new media, and keeping the content fresh.

Earlier today, a colleague pointed me to a great example of a company utilizing new media. Believe it or not it is cable provider Comcast, which has improved customer service and generated buzz -- and a sense of community -- in an industry known for disappointing consumers. All it took was an enterprising customer service manager -- get the story here. Pretty cool idea that could be applicable to organizations with a lot of Gen Y constituents. A certain institution adjacent to downtown Athens comes to mind....

From Between the Hedges to Under the Lights

Atlanta's Theater of the Stars just concluded a two-weekend run of the smash-hit Schönberg/MacKintosh/Boubil musical Les Miserables - affectionately known to its die-hard fans as "Les Mis."

Handling the lead role of the noble parole-jumpingthief and the play's hero, Jean Valjean, was Rob Evan. And here's the kicker - the Broadway sensation was a walk-on player for the UGA Bulldogs in 1986 as a kicker alongside contemporaries John Kasay and Steve Crumley. Evan even sang "Thanks for the Memories" at Vince Dooley's 1989 farewell gala.

Since then, his star has steadily risen among the Broadway elite, and he's tackled some of The Great White Way's most challenging roles. He performed the incredibly difficult lead in Jekyll & Hyde for more than 1,000 shows, portraying the extreme vocal range of the good doctor and his evil twin.

Evan's performance at the Saturday matinee was outstanding. He was tapped to play Valjean two years ago in a Broadway revival, and he definitely brought Broadway chops to the Fabulous Fox. His football physique came in handy as he played the character whose size and strength gives him away to his relentless pursuer, Inspector Javert. And his carefully controlled falsetto was spot-on during Valjean's signature song "Bring Him Home."

The former Dawg brought down the house, and there was no doubt when the crowd came to their feet at the end of the performance that for this kicker, it was good.

From Jennings Mill to Valhalla…

The eyes of the golfing world were on Louisville, Ky. this weekend as the U.S. team pulled off their first Ryder Cup victory since 1999. While the victory was great, Boo Weekly was worth the price of admission. The most unique player in golf was not only the MVP of the U.S. team, but he kept the world entertained with his antics, like his ride down the first fairway:



What those locally may not remember is that Boo was riding his driver down the first fairway at Jennings Mill just two years ago as he finished tied for 42nd at the inaugural Athens Regional Foundation Classic (ARFC). While the $2,030 check may not have set the bank account on fire, it did put him on pace to return to the PGA TOUR.

One of my most enjoyable moments in the three-years of the tournament is sitting in the men’s lounge at Jennings Mill on the Monday of the event’s second year. The finale of the PGA tournament in Hilton Head was delayed until Monday. Boo chipped in on the 18th hole to win the event and the room went wild. He was living the dream of each guy in that room, it was awesome. (Also in the inaugural ARFC field was the PGA TOUR’s 2007 Rookie of the Year and the man that stole the show at the Masters, Brandt Snedeker.)

Recently, the PGA TOUR announced the dated for the 2009 event – April 13-19. This will be the fourth annual event and the crowds and excitement have grown each year. So has the involvement of the Athens business community.

While there is no guarantee that there will be a future Ryder Cup star in the field, you can be assured that there will be some incredible golf played by some great guys. Case in point – Brendon Todd. Todd was a star on the UGA golf team from 2004-07 and he received a sponsor’s exemption into this year’s event. Each sponsor has the right to invite four players who are otherwise not in the field to participate. Todd took advantage of his invitation and led this year’s ARFC after three rounds. It was heartbreaking to see his collapse on the final day, but his resilience showed as he parlayed that experience into a string of top-25 finishes, culminating with a victory at the Utah Championship. The victory puts him in “The 25,” setting him up to spend next season on the big tour. PGATOUR.com did a great feature on Todd chronicling his week in Athens that led to victory.

The ARFC is one of the highlights of the Athens sports calendar. Not only is it a great event, but all proceeds from the Classic will benefit the Athens Regional Foundation. The Foundation’s goals of community service and education are accomplished by providing the financial means to establish projects and programs to reach out and serve the long-term healthcare needs of area citizens.

So mark your calendars for next April, you never know who might be riding down the fairway…

Throwers Staying "Put" in Athens

Athens' own Reese Hoffa was the favorite for the 2008 Olympic Gold medal in the shot put. He won the world championship last year. His winning throw at the U.S. Olympic Trials was good enough to win Olympic gold in past games.

But as several of us from Jackson Spalding learned today, the Olympics are anything but just another track meet. Winning the Olympics means dealing with the natural adversity that comes with overseas travel (for Hoffa, this meant four days of travel while compressing his 315 lb frame into coach seats), dealing with unusual food, having hundreds of spectators attending his practice, and more. In the end, Hoffa settled for 7th place at the 2008 games. Not bad by most people's standards, but not what he wanted either.

But what is amazing is that Hoffa -- world champion, Olympic favorite, etc. -- lives right here among us in Athens in anonymity, despite a winning personality and a compelling story.

He is a part of the Athens Throwing Group, which seems to be an informal group of athletes who compete in the hammer throw, discus, or shotput on the international track and field circuit. These athletes often graduate from UGA and remain here. Others relocate to Athens to train under renowned UGA coach throws coach Don Babbitt. Beyond the occassional burst of publicity that may accompany an Olympic year or world championship, the group trains quietly in town.

They are quietly supported by local businessmen and athletic contributors who call themselves the Champions Club, which is headed by the legendary Billy Henderson (who entertained us with some lunch time stories about Clarke Central football and our own gridiron warrior).

In addition to Hoffa, the group has included from time to time the somewhat controversial Breaux Greer, who you may have seen on the new American Gladiators (photo and video below), Adam Nelson, the 2004 Olympic Silver medalist who once tried to auction his services to a sponsor on Ebay, and others you wouldn't recognize who are among the best in the world.

Today Babbitt (pictured above left with Hoffa) related the Olympic experience to a small group at a local club's monthly Tuesday Topics program. Since a few of us at JS got extremely passionate about the games, we decided to attend, and Babbitt didn't disappoint as he expounded upon on a number of issues, including:

• the strengths and weaknesses of the American track and field's Olympic qualifying system (which forced Hoffa, the reigning world champion, to "earn" his way onto the team when his international competitors can focus on peaking jsut for the games);
• Decrying the fact that the Olympic trials were a mere six weeks before the Olympics themselves, leaving little time for recovery and preparation among athletes;
• The massive resources that UGA offers to its student athletes compared to the meager offerings of USA Track and Field, the national governing body for track; and
  
• Outlining the massive investment China made in the Olympics, describing parks "three times as large as Central Park" and venues more than 400 meters away from each other. At one point, Babbit said he had to walk two miles to find a post office. Seems that everything about the China Olympics was supersized!

As a friend told me a few weeks ago when we ran into Olympic swimming coach Jack Bauerle at Big City Bread, Athens always seems to have a surprise up its sleeve. You never know where you'll find it, whether on the road, in the pool, at the track or somewhere totally different.


Reese Hoffa making the world's longest throw



Breaux Greer's American Record

Taking the Plunge in Beijing

As I write this, I'm thinking fondly of a soft couch where I could take a nap. The Beijing Olympics - rolling on through Day 7 - has me up well past a reasonable bedtime to keep up with the action. What can you do when they keep putting Michael Phelps in the pool around 11:30?

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to pull for the hometown hero early in the primetime broadcast. UGA diver Chris Colwill and diving partner Jevon Tarintino performed in last night's synchronized 3m diving competition. The synchro event involves six rounds of dives. Athletes receive two sets of scores, the first based on technical execution of the dives and the second on the pair's synchronization.

And when they say synchronization, they mean it. Pairs are judged on every hand movement, maintaining the same height coming off the board, folding into tucks and twists at the same time, and rotating through the air at the same rate. If you've watched, you also know - as commentator Cynthia Potter points out every chance she gets - that participants must enter the water at the same time and with the same trajectory. This is no bellyflop contest, either. Splashing is highly frowned upon.

Colwill and Tarantino had a disastrous fourth round dive, ending up perpendicular to each other as they twisted. (Colwill is on the far side in this photo.) They recovered with a solid dive in the fifth round, and held the third spot going into the final round behind the dominating Chinese team and the German pair. Hopes for a bronze medal for the U.S. team were high. Colwill and Tarantino looked good in the air, but one over rotated and the angles of entry ended up messy - and splashes erupted in opposite direction. The error resulted in disappointing execution scores and opened the door for the Ukrainian team to scoop up the third metal position. Though I'm no expert, I thought the Ukrainians had equal problems on their entry and that Colwill and Tarantino executed the dive more precisely - especially in terms of synchro. But maybe that's just my Bulldog bias.

Colwill, who is hearing-impaired, put in a marvelous performance, and the fourth place finish, though disappointing, is still a noteworthy accomplishment when you consider the field of play. Colwill will start preliminary qualifications for the individual 3m springboard on Monday. Tune in and prepare to be amazed. Splashing not welcome.

PHOTO: GREG PEARSON / GANNETT NEWS SERVICE

The Train -- Is it (finally) coming?

Here at the Inbox, we've never been shy about cheering for the Brain Train. As an office full of people who make almost weekly trips back and forth to meet with associates at Jackson Spalding or clients in Atlanta, we will be dedicated users of the train the day it arrives. There is no question in our mind that when completed the "Brain Train" will have enormous economic benefits for Athens and the surrounding communities.

In the past two weeks, several events have occurred that make the Brain Train a much more likely occurrence.

First and foremost, Governor Sonny Perdue finally got on board with rail and transit, citing high gas prices and increasing use of GRTA buses. While he is focusing on a well-funded southern line first, many -- including myself -- believe that the Athens line (also known as the Brain Train) will ultimately be the more successful option given the fact that there is a destination at both ends that people will want to visit for work and play.

Second, in a move that received scant notice locally, Bill Kuhlke was named Chair of the Georgia Department of Transportation and strongly endorsed rail. Who is Mr. Kuhlke? He is our district's GDOT representative, and given his embrace of rail and the fact that he represents our congressional district, this has to be a positive for our area. It will certainly be a positive to have the Chair of GDOT looking in Northeast Georgia's direction a little more often.

This story at the Atlanta Business Chronicle offers a good idea of the many positive effects of the line will have. For Athens and its anti-poverty drive, I can't imagine anything that would be better for the local workforce than having a rail line to Gwinnett, which seems to generate just the type of skilled labor jobs we want here for the poor but can't get. The other potential benefits are enormous -- less traffic on 316; more productive commutes for anyone working at CDC, in Lawrenceville, at Emory, or in downtown or Midtown Atlanta; and a great option for tourists or those wanting to visit any of the communities along the route. From an economic development standpoint, having a strong, tangible, reliable link between all the institutions of higher education included in the map above will give us a strong advantage over many other communities.

Peabodys

Question: what is the most prestigious honor for broadcast journalists?

Answer: It's not a Grammy. It's not an Emmy. And of course it's not a Tony. It's a Peabody, and many don't realize that the Peabody Awards are headquartered at the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication here in Athens. The list of past Peabody winners includes most of the legends of broadcast journalism and some of America's most well known television programming, including everything from Sesame Street to the Sopranos.

On Monday, Eric O'Brien and I had the opportunity to represent Jackson Spalding at the Peabody Awards Gala at the Waldorf=Astoria in Manhattan. It was a remarkable event for a number of reasons.

First of all, the diversity of the honorees. Everyone from 30 Rock to Project Runway to NPR were among the 30+ award winners. We heard acceptance speeches from television anchors who covered the Virginia Tech tragedy with calm, skill and dignity. We heard a moving tribute from Bob Woodruff after he was honored for his production about injured veterans of the Iraq war. And we had the pleasure of hearing from Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, and Heidi Klum (although, I must say, she had an unusual new look going on). While the winners came from across the electronic media spectrum, they all had one thing in common: absolute excellence with their craft.

The event was a first class production in every way with the glitz and glamour of your typical televised award show. It made me proud to be a supporter of the University of Georgia to see the respect and honor given to our flagship institution in New York City.

A sample of some of the media coverage is below (note my closest brush ever with Perez Hilton); notably the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Athens Banner-Herald (fair disclosure: the ABH did highlight the winners back in the spring when they were announced) have no mention of the event or its honorees. My former employer the Rome News-Tribune did a wonderful locally driven story on the event, as they typically do.

--L.A. Times
--Washington Times
--Perez Hilton
--Media Bistro story and a good summary of winners

Overall, this is a great example of another one of "those things" that the University of Georgia does that it gets very little credit for in the local community that help establish it (and by association, Athens) as a national leader.

From Athens to Asia: An Orient-ation

In recent weeks, the Georgia-China relationship has been much in the news. Governor Sonny Perdue traveled to China in early April with a delegation of 40 Georgians to talk trade and make several announcements, and also to celebrate the debut of Delta's direct routes to China.

While the AJC and many other media outlets accompanied the Georgia delegation, Northeast Georgians might still think that the only connection between Athens and China is the outstanding Chinese cuisine at Peking.

However, The Inbox recently learned that of Georgia’s 48 official delegates to China, 7 were from Athens – Maxine Burton (at left in the picture), Michael Burton, Emma Lou Hubbard (all from burton + BURTON); Winston Heard and Julia Menefield of the East Athens Development Corporation; and Steve Wrigley and Arnett Mace from the University of Georgia – and another was from Commerce: Gary Black, who is the president of the Georgia Agribusiness Council. Logically, this made The Inbox wonder about other Athens-China connections, and whether there is opportunity for local businesses in China, whether it is from a manufacturing standpoint or a sales standpoint.

Quickly, other local connections emerged:

• During the trip, the governor announced a partnership between UGA and Tsinghua University, a school of 27,000 students in northern Beijing.
• Something called the Georgia-China Alliance even lists an Athens street address as its headquarters.
• Mayor Davison visited China on a recent trip (which the local press then deemed a tourism junket).

This will be the first of a series of posts that will cover the Athens/Northeast Georgia-China relationship and what a stronger relationship with China could mean for this area.

For our first installment we dialed up two top local businesses to inquire about working in and with China, and some keen insights emerged. The two businesses are burton + BURTON, which utilizes facilities in seven countries (including several in China) but keeps its headquarters in Athens, and Tifosi Optics, which manufacturers its "enthusiastic eyewear" at five factories in China and Taiwan but does business worldwide. Tifosi is headquartered in Watkinsville. Summaries are below as well as links to the full interviews with both companies.

burton + BURTON

Founded in March of 1982 by Maxine Burton under the name Flowers, Inc. Balloons® as the balloon division of a retail and wholesale florist (Flowers, Inc.), burton + BURTON is an Athens business success story with more than 350 employees. Since its founding, the company has become the nation’s leading supplier of balloons and coordinating gift products. With an international customer base the company offers more than 15,000 different products which certainly necessitates the need for extensive and flexible manufacturing operations. According to CEO Bob Burton, the company first explored manufacturing in China in 1986, and began production there shortly thereafter. Why?

“Many of the products that we carry are no longer available from domestic suppliers,” said Mr. Burton. “If we wanted to continue to provide our customers with the variety of products they need, we had to find other sources. We also found that China was one of the few places that could meet the demand we were experiencing. Many of our products are very intricate pieces made by skilled artisans [note: see photos]. No domestic vendors can (or will) supply container-loads of hand-blown glass vases, or intricately woven handmade baskets at the competitive prices available from China.”

Bob’s wife and company founder, Maxine, was one of the delegates on the Georgia-China trip. She found it valuable for a number of reasons.

“The interaction with Chinese business leaders during the opening reception for the new Trade Office allowed us to exchange viewpoints on trade and to hear first-hand their perspective,” said Mrs. Burton. “It was also very valuable to meet others from the state of Georgia who are in the imports/exports business.”

Mrs. Burton is also a board member of the Georgia Ports Authority, which offers her a unique perspective on the two way relationship between the countries. She was quick to point out that Georgia enjoys a huge export business with China, and that containers travel fully loaded both ways, making trade with China is a two-way street. This result, she says, is a huge positive economic impact for the State of Georgia.

"It has been very eye-opening to learn the amount of products Georgia exports to China," says Mrs. Burton. "Georgia is a major exporter of forestry and agricultural products, and minerals like kaolin and gypsum. The Georgia Ports Authority has done an outstanding job of attracting business to the State, resulting in increased revenues for Georgia. Thanks to the job the GPA has done, Georgia ports are now the fastest growing ports in the United States."

There have been some lessons learned as burton + BURTON has grown and manufactured more goods overseas, and in China specifically. Consider this comment from Mr. Burton:

"There are significant challenges. Obviously there is the distance. There’s no such thing as a 'I need it tomorrow' project when dealing with overseas manufacturers. Most of our products will spend 4-6 weeks 'on the water' just getting to us. This is in addition to the time needed to produce the goods. There is also the time difference. Our working hours in the US are the middle of the night for the Chinese. When it is 8:00 am here, it is 8:00 pm in China. As a result, we rely heavily on e-mail.

"There’s no such thing as just 'going over to China to start-up operations.' Business owners who don’t spend time developing trusted relationships and learning the way Chinese businesses run will likely encounter major problems. Additionally, there is the learning curve associated with US customs and imports. Confusing trade tariffs and products 'stranded' in West Coast ports due to strikes are just two of the potential challenges we deal with."

But the most important lesson of all, according to Mr. Burton, isn't about business.

"Probably the biggest, and most rewarding lesson learned has been that when you put language, political, and cultural differences aside, our international vendors share many of the same goals as we do. We both want our businesses to be successful and to provide for our families and the families of our employees. We value friendship. We want safe places to raise our children, and a comfortable lifestyle. As we travel the world, and sit down with our international partners over dinner, face-to-face, and talk one-on-one, we see that we’re really not so different. The similarities in our overall goals make it easier to do business, despite the cultural and geographic barriers between us."

Wow. As I said, a lot to chew on, and I would encourage you to read the full interview here.

Tifosi Optics

When Joe Earley and his wife Elizabeth founded Tifosi in 2003 to provide an affordable, high-quality sunglass for the cycling market, he knew he'd have to manufacture his product in China.

"For our product category there is no domestic production for sunglasses," says Mr. Earley, who cut his teeth repping a variety of cycling gear and accessories, giving him unique insights into the needs of retailers and cyclists. "Whether they are $200 or $5, they are all made in China -- it really wasn’t that much of a discussion for us."

Today, Mr. Earley's company employs 16 at its Watkinsville headquarters, and is on a steady growth path. According to Mr. Earley, the benefits of manufacturing in China are many -- cost, quality, speed, etc. But there are challenges, especially on the communications side.

"For the most part, you deal with the factory and while the English is not perfect, as long as you are communicating through e-mail, you're okay," he says. "English is the common language for business, but it has gotten easier with Skype, which allows you to talk to them and show them the product at the same time."

According to Mr. Earley, specificity is the key.

"We’ve had products come in and not be what we expected them to be in production. The bottom line is you have to be very detailed when dealing with Asian production. Every little thing needs to be spelled out, every finite little detail, with absolutely no room for interpretation, especially from an artistic standpoint. The look and cosmetics of things is critical for our product and the judgment of our partners is not the same as an American consumer’s judgment. You can’t leave anything up to chance when specifying things."

Okay, so how does all this benefit Athens? Well, the bottom line is we have two global consumer and business products quietly headquartered in our community. While we might not get the manufacturing jobs we used to, it is doubtful whether we would have these headquarters at all without their ability to compete on a global scale -- there is no way to do that when you are mass producing goods in America that could be produced overseas. Both of these businesses return significant tax dollars and provide top quality jobs for people up and down the economic ladder in the region, from marketing, to administrative, to logistics, to executive level positions. The ripple effects of global consumer and business to business companies like Tifosi and burton + BURTON are enormous and will continue to grow -- as long as their headquarters stay here in the Athens area.

Be sure you read the full interviews with Mr. Earley and Mr. and Mrs. Burton, and stay tuned for future stories where we inquire about the American products the Chinese are using, the UGA-China relationship, what the future holds in terms of Athens-China and whatever else comes up as The Inbox researches this topic.

Many thanks to those who assisted with our research for this post, and please comment or e-mail to let us know if you know of other Athens-China connections, or have ideas on where this might go.

From Both Sides of the Aisle

The Navy School hosted members of the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce this morning (bright & early!) for a post-legislative wrap session. Each member of the local delegation spoke for a few minutes about what the session accomplished from his perspective. It was clear that the failure of the Speaker's "Great Plan" and the Lt. Gov.'s counter plan for tax reform left a bad taste in the mouths of both the houses and members of both parties. The inability to compromise on funding for the statewide trauma network and transportation improvements was mentioned in spades by the delegation.

Big news for Athens includes:
* funding to bring the Medical College of Georgia to a satellite campus in Athens
* funding for UGA's pharmacy school
* tax incentives for tourism destinations
* tax incentives for the film industry
* a water management plan

Here are the highlights from each member of the delegation and my take on each one:

Rep. Keith Heard (D-114)
- Emphasized accomplishments for UGA, including a 2.5% raise for faculty
- $10 million investment secured to bring the Medical College of Georgia to Athens with a satellite campus housed in The Navy School after it relocates to Newport, R.I.
- $1 million for a rare books collection at UGA
- Heard also referenced bills intended to boost the state's tourism efforts with incentives for companies building designated tourist destinations and one to offer tax credits to production companies.

For six years, I lived in Wilmington, N.C., known affectionately as "Wilmywood" for playing home to the popular series Dawson's Creek and One Tree Hill as well as numerous films. North Carolina created a similar incentive package to attract companies to Wilmington's Screen Gems Studios but were often unable to compete with the breaks given in Canada. It will be interesting to see if Georgia can.

Sen. Ralph Hudgens (R-47)
- Hudgens openly stated that he felt the session was hijacked by the personal agendas of Speaker Richardson and Lt. Gov. Cagle.
- His opposition to the proposed tax plans was that they were tax shifts, just taking the same money in a different manner and, in some cases, penalizing certain groups with the shift.
- Emphasized that there's no tax cut until the spending is reduced - in other words, you can't have less money and keep spending the same amount.
- He's now pushing for a regional TSPLOST for Oconee, Clarke, Barrow and Gwinnett to fund clover-leafing 316 and implementing the Brain Train.

Hudgens was the most vocally disappointed in the way things played out on tax reform. He clearly didn't support either one of the proposed plans and felt that the reform should be handled differently through tax credits issued for ad valorem taxes. It's ironic to hear a politician so riled up about the politics of politics.

Rep. Bob Smith (R-113)
- Smith was the first to mention the state's overall budget and commented that it was a good budget and good for all of Georgia.
- Smith spoke about a couple of items near and dear to my heart - including a tax credit for the rehabilitation of historic properties. He also mentioned a similar credit for donation of conservation land.
- He spent the greater portion of his allotted time talking about the partnership between Medical College of Georgia and UGA, and also noted the $4 million in funding for the University's pharmacy school.

Smith felt like the media overplayed what didn't get done and wanted to emphasize what did get done. I think they were all feeling like they'd taken a public beating for the session's failures. But Smith was very positive about what the delegation accomplished for the local area and indicated several bills and resolutions that will boost the economy or bring business to the area.

Senator Bill Cowsert (R-46)
- Cowsert admitted a lot of frustration with the lack of resolution on the tax reform and trauma care. However, he did note his satisfaction with the outcome of two of his highest priorities: the water plan and bringing the medical college to Athens.
-He noted that the Georgia Chamber of Commerce considered this its most productive legislative effort ever - a sign that business interests were upheld during the session.
-Cowsert also plugged the water plan, saying that the state was taking a sensible approach by measuring resources, managing resources and implementing a system of checks and balances between environmental, governmental, business and residential needs.

Cowsert, though disappointed in the outcome of the session in some respect, voiced his belief in a silver lining. The conversation about tax relief is open, both sides have fired, and now is the opportunity for consensus building. Ever mindful of reaching his constituents, he also led off with a plug for his campaign kickoff on Tuesday at the Oconee County Civic Center.

Rep. Doug McKillip (D-115)
- McKillip, who serves on the Natural Resources Committee, lauded the water plan and the efforts on Jekyll Island. He said both were items that he studied carefully and felt like the right people were in place to address the issues.
- While he doesn't endorse the Speaker's "Great Plan" he did credit Richardson with starting an energetic debate about tax reform. He went on to describe how he's planning to continue examining the issue in preparation for next year's session.
- He emphasized that he hopes Georgia will continue to seek progressive efforts over regressive efforts.

McKillip was last in line to speak and wasn't left with much to cover in the way of this year's session. Instead, he addressed his thoughts about the future. He's a big proponent of earned income tax credits and plans to take the time away from the Hill to examine the full-meal-deal tax system, from income tax to sales tax to property tax and rethink it.

In just an hour, I got a sense of the intense atmosphere in this year's session and the immense complexity of how government works. Nothing is as simple as it seems - and if someone makes it sound simple, you should probably start asking questions.

All in all, I have great respect for the delegation and what they do. It's clear - whether you agree with their politics or not - that these men are truly committed to doing what they think is best for the communities they serve. And we have to give them credit for raising their hands to go to the Hill and continue making this area a great place to live and work.

Thanks to the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce and the event sponsors - AAA Sanitation, Chastain & Associates Insurance, Athens Area Habitat for Humanity, Heyward Allen, and Wachovia - for putting together this informative session for the local business community.