We are excited about the launch of One Valdosta-Lowndes and welcome inaugural Director Mary Beth Brownlee to our community.

It is great to see local government, private businesses and membership organizations come together for a common cause and a commitment to building synergies that benefit the community as a whole.

We commend the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners, the City of Valdosta, the Valdosta-Lowndes County Development Authority, the Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce, Valdosta State University, South Georgia Medical Center and Georgia Power Company for working together to turn visions and plans into reality.

A community is stronger when all partners work together toward the same goals.

We think Christie Moore, president and chief executive officer of the Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce, said it best when she said, “The most successful communities in Georgia and across the United States have one major quality in common: collaboration. One Valdosta-Lowndes is committed to working collaboratively with partners across our community to ensure economic opportunities and an enjoyable quality of life for all.”

We agree with County Commission Chairman Bill Slaughter who described this as a big moment for our region.

Brownlee comes to our community with very relevant experience that should prove valuable in this endeavor. She worked with counties and elected officials across Georgia as a member of the Association County Commissioners of Georgia county consulting services team. She was the founding executive director of the One Sumter Economic Development Foundation in Americus. There she helped raise $3.7 million and leveraged the funding into an additional $37 million in capital investments in the community.

In addition to Brownlee’s experience, we are impressed by the high-level leadership of the One Valdosta-Lowndes Advisory Council that includes Johnny Ball, South Georgia Medical Center; Clinton Beeland, CJB Industries; Thressea Boyd, Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce; Joe Brownlee, Georgia Power Company; Dr. Richard Carvajal, Valdosta State University; Paige Dukes, Lowndes County; Mayor Scott James Matheson, City of Valdosta; George Page, Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority; and Andrea Schruijer, Valdosta-Lowndes County Development Authority.

We like what Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson said, “There is great energy in Valdosta and Lowndes County. We have local governments, a university, South Georgia Medical Center, Development Authority, chamber — all who go to work every single day focused on doing what is best to grow and prosper our community. Too often we don’t have the opportunity to stop and get in the same room together to talk about our common goals and objectives, what really needs to happen to move our community forward. One Valdosta-Lowndes is the mechanism to do that, to harness those great energies into a single, driving and focused effort.”

We support this collaborative mindset and look forward to sharing the stories of the exciting things which can be accomplished by One Valdosta-Lowndes.