When it comes to resolving this state’s ongoing challenges, much of the effort and discussion seems to focus on broad, top-down strategies or bromides. Less in the forefront are the actual problems and how they affect people across Georgia.
That focus on tools, rather than the troubles, is why the Georgia Forward effort is intriguing. It seeks to emphasize what Georgians can do – together. How can we persevere today in our own communities while simultaneously pouring the foundation for a more-prosperous tomorrow for the entire state? Those are questions deserving of rich answers. Our future place in the world depends on how well we answer them. Call it blue-sky brainstorming meets real-world advancement.
That’s where Georgia Forward can be of value. Now in its fourth year, the forum attracts a dynamic mix of local activists, academics, experts, entrepreneurs and a smattering of pragmatic political leaders who come together to brainstorm ways to improve Georgia, both across its whole and the various parts. The concept is a noble one that’s needed to help neutralize the recurring spats and political rhetoric that overemphasize regional differences and disagreements. This dynamic too often obscures the civic recognition that Georgians do share significant commonalities – ones that span geography.
Are our concerns and interests perfectly aligned across Georgia? Of course not. Nor should they be, given this state's diversity in economics, geography and every other imaginable way. Yet, we're one interdependent state. Or, at our best, we must be.
On a local level, that realization is part of the formula Atlanta’s brave leaders of a generation ago successfully employed to push Georgia’s capital city ahead of flailing competitors. We bridged differences and turned them to our advantage.
That same sort of understanding and collaboration is now needed across this state. The needs vary around Georgia, but our desires and dreams do not. There’s opportunity in acting on that realization.
To its credit, Georgia Forward works to recognize differing needs around the state. A spinoff group known as the Young Gamechangers spent the past year, for example, focusing on improving Americus and Sumter County. Exploring and publicizing what each region, county, city and town are trying to do individually can increase statewide understanding of what makes Georgia go. And that could yield quantifiable improvement in our state as a place to live, work and conduct business. Synergy is not just an overused buzzword.
More importantly, appreciating where we all are – and what we struggle against in our own communities – should make it easier to gain broad statewide consensus on the big issues that need work. Education. Transportation. Water. Economic development. Most Georgians would agree on the list. And that is encouraging.
Yet recognition of the issues hasn’t led to the needed coalescing around finding the best solutions. As Amir Farokhi, the outgoing founding director of Georgia Forward, said during his opening remarks, “We tend not to collaborate and work in a statewide fashion perhaps as much as we should.”
That must change if Georgia is to progress in today’s competitive world. The tasks ahead of us demand that much, and more.
Anita Brown-Graham, director of the Institute for Emerging Issues at North Carolina State University, nicely laid out the issues for forum attendees as she talked about our northern neighbor’s current situation. “The truth is these are for North Carolina as they are for Georgia some difficult times,” she said.
“The Great Recession was hard on our neck of the woods, lots of jobs in traditional industries were lost. The recovery has been slow and bumpy for the entire nation, but particularly slow and painfully bumpy for the state we call home,” said Brown-Graham. “So I think what we need to do today is have a conversation about how strengthening from within allows us to be not just vibrant, but resilient in the days to come,” she said. “What all of us know is we will continue to see volatility in our economy.”
That is sound advice for her state and ours. As Georgians, we must be as focused on our state’s success as we are on that of our own communities. That can come only when we fully accept that the two are not mutually exclusive, or even contradictory.
We wish Georgia Forward and its incoming leader Howard Franklin well in helping us get to that point.
