continued from page city’s Environmental, ….

continued from page

city’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) workers have maintained the area since then.

In a called meeting on August 2, the DDA proposed the sale of the .39acre location to the TCDA.

According to City Manager Nick Overstreet, the profit from this transaction between agencies will be used to pay off some of the City’s loan to buy the Econo Inn site. The DDA retains ownership of the remainder of the property, but has not yet disclosed how it will be developed.

DDA Chairman Brian Frederick commented on the exchange of the property. “On behalf of the DDA, we are looking forward to the new project as a result of the sale of this portion of the property to the Toombs County Development Authority and are excited about them choosing this site as the home of the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship. The Authority, the Greater Vidalia Chamber, and the City of Vidalia worked tirelessly to see this project through. We certainly look forward to its future impact.”

He continued, “We believe this Center will only enhance our downtown and provide an additional anchor to our growing and thriving business community. Our desire is that many future entrepreneurs will take advantage of this Center and provide our community and others around us as well, with businesses that will increase our already growing and expanding economy.”

The Center, which will be publicly owned by the TCDA, will operate under a public-private partnership structure between the TCDA and Greater Vidalia Chamber. These entities will oversee and manage the Center operations and programming.

As a central hub for entrepreneurship and innovation, the Center will strive to help business owners thrive, overall helping to build the economy throughout the area. It will teach individuals the basics of running businesses and will provide resources for these individuals to gain partnerships and needed services for their entrepreneurial experience.