Cobb speaks at chamber banquet
By Deborah Bennett Millen News Editor

Nancy Cobb, executive director, OneGeorgia Authority, delivered a message of hope to citizens gathered at the Millen Community House April 24 for the Millen- Jenkins County Chamber of Commerce annual banquet.

Cobb, a native of Jenkins County, began her remarks by noting that returning to her home community was "like a walk down memory lane."

"I am here to tell you that there is a silver lining in all of this…There is a tremendous amount of talent in this community. There is a tremendous amount of energy in this community…but it will take every- one," she said of the current unemployment crisis.

"Having come from a rural area, anytime I have an opportunity to help a rural area, I do so," Cobb added.

She then outlined several things that she felt should happen within the community to make it more marketable to prospective industries.

"You must chart a course for the future. You have to know where you're going," she said.

She then encouraged community leaders to "learn to be on the cutting edge of technology."

"Technology gets you anywhere in the world. It makes a rural community available to the outside world. If you're not techsavy, get that way in a hurry," Cobb encouraged, noting the importance of broad band communication to a community.

She also advised that the Ogeechee River, Magnolia Springs State Park and the community's Civil War heritage could be advantageous marketing aids.

"My message tonight is that you have what it takes. This is a wonderful community," Cobb commented.

"But it is really about the next generation, leaving it better than we found it," she concluded.

Cobb was sworn in as the Executive Director of the OneGeorgia Authority in 2002 and reappointed by Gov. Sonny Perdue in 2003. The Authority, created in 2000, targets assistance to Georgia's rural areas and the state's most economically distressed communities utilizing funds from the state's tobacco settlement funds.

Mabel Jenkins, Jenkins County Development Authority chairman, introduced Cobb and thanked her for the role she played in the awarding of approximately $700,000 in OneGeorgia grant funds to the Authority for the purchase of additional industrial park property.