Mission Toccoa: Toccoa-Stephens County Day at the Capitol brings a taste of Toccoa to Atlanta

On Wednesday, February 10, a delegation of over 40 leaders from Toccoa-Stephens County visited Georgia's Capitol in Atlanta, where "Toccoa-Stephens County Day" was proclaimed by legislators in the House and Senate. GEM Plastics custom designed and produced Georgia shaped post-it note holders especially for the event, which were given to each legislator. The group met with several key legislators during the day and hosted a reception with a Mission Toccoa theme.

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Pictured above: Team Toccoa-Stephens County with Governor Sonny Perdue

Stephens County Hospital awarded for patient safety

Congratulations to Stephens County Hospital! The Partnership for Health and Accountability presented its "Quality and Patient Safety Award" to the hospital for a project that reduced surgical site infections.

Source: Anderson Independent Mail, 1/30/10

SCDA Board welcomes Bob Troup, Dean Scarborough

The SCDA Board has two new faces with which to being 2010 - Toccoa's new Mayor Bob Troup, and the new Stephens County Commission Chairman, Dean Scarborough. They will replace former Mayor Ron Seib (SCDA Assistant Secretary) and Commission Chairman Harold Andrews (SCDA Vice-Chair), who served on the Board in 2009.

Happy 20th Birthday, Toccoa Main Street Program!

Toccoa's Main Street Program turns 20 in 2010. In 1990, Toccoa applied to become a Georgia Main Street City with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. Since then, 16 grants totaling $2.3 million have been invested in Main Street infrastructure and more than $25 million has been invested from the private sector.

Highlighted achievements of the program are:

• Removal of the concrete canopies
• Belk building donation, renovation, and sale to WhistleStop
• Train Depot acquisition and renovation
• Recruitment of the Chamber of Commerce, Historical Society, and Military Museum
• Designation as a local historic district

To learn more about Toccoa's Main Street Program, visit their website: http://www.mainstreettoccoa.com/

EDGE Award to fund new airport terminal in Toccoa

Pictured from left: Angela Steedley, The Steedley Firm; Toccoa Mayor Ron Seib; Bob Davis, terminal project manager; Governor Sonny Perdue; John Taylor, Airport Authority Chairman; Cam Parker, SCDA Chairman; Tim Martin, SCDA Executive Director.

Excerpt from Governor's office press release regarding the recent EDGE award made to the Toccoa Airport Authority by the OneGeorgia Authority:

Toccoa-StephensAirportAuthority – Building Construction

Equity grant funds will be used to assist with construction of a 5,948 SF terminal facility at the Toccoa-Stephens County Regional Airport at R.G LeTourneau Field. Presently a small office within a privately-operated maintenance hangar serves as the airport terminal. The airport, located in the northeastern corner of the state, is centrally located near the Georgia and North/South Carolina borders and serves as a gateway to the Northeast Georgia Mountains. Statistics reflect that this Level II airport handles comparable traffic to other Level III airports (Cornelia, Blairsville) and is Georgia's northernmost airport before entering mountainous terrain, serving as a hub for Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountain tourist traffic. While neighboring Franklin and Hart Counties are served by two airports, neither have adequate facilities to welcome/meet prospective business clients. This proposed airport terminal will play a pivotal role in attracting regional business and tourism prospects to the Northeast Region. After losing 2,000+ furniture manufacturing jobs and similar amount of textile jobs, this region has adopted a plan to attract smaller diversified industry.

• Equity Grant Award: $500,000 / Total Project Cost: $3.2 million

Stephens County Board of Education named a "School Board of Distinction"

The Stephens County Board of Education was selected as one of only six school boards in Georgia to receive the title of "School Board of Distinction". The award was made by the Georgia School Boards Association at its annual conference and honors school boards that achieve a number of benchmarks.

OneGeorgia Grant awarded

On Monday, December 7 a delegation from Toccoa-Stephens County travelled to Thomasville for the official awarding of a $500,000 OneGeorgia Authority grant to Toccoa's Airport Authority.

Pictured (from left): Cam Parker, Stephens County Development Authority; Bob Troup, City of Toccoa; Representative Michael Harden; Harold Andrews, Stephens County Commission; Senator Jim Butterworth; Dean Scarborough, Stephens County Commission; David Austin, City of Toccoa; A.J. Pavliscsak, City of Toccoa.