The Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Greater Vidalia® Center for Rural Entrepreneurship, 204 East First Street, Vidalia, was held Monday, April 17, 2023.
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Pictured L-R: State Senator Blake Tillery; Sean Moxley, President, Garbutt Construction; Toombs County Commissioner Chair David Sikes; City of Vidalia Mayor Doug Roper; Matt Richardson, Pre-Construction Manager, Garbutt Construction; Kevin Palmer, Architect, DPR Architecture; Michele Johnson, President/Executive Director, Greater Vidalia® Chamber/Toombs County Development Authority; Toombs County Development Authority Chair Tim Truxel; Representative Leesa Hagan, Greater Vidalia® Chamber Chair Mike Hagan; and Steven McComas, CEO, Responsive Technology Partners.
The Greater Vidalia® Center for Rural Entrepreneurship is a Southeast Georgia regional initiative that will stimulate the establishment and growth of entrepreneurial companies by providing coworking, incubation, mentoring, technology, tools, strategic support, and a collaborative downtown environment where entrepreneurs can develop the projects of their dreams, as well as direct access to the Greater Vidalia® Chamber, the Toombs County Development Authority, and an information technology (IT) provider, Responsive Technology Partners, all of whom will be anchor tenants.
A public-private partnership structure between the Toombs County Development Authority and Greater Vidalia® Chamber will oversee and manage the Center operations and programming. The Center facility will be publicly owned by the Toombs County Development Authority. The facility development project is made possible by several funding sources, including the State’s Rural Downtown Redevelopment Grant (RDRG) and OneGeorgia Program with local matching funds from the Authority, the Chamber, and the City of Vidalia.
