Statesboro advances in America’s Best Communities competition

ajc.com

Credit: Hunter Desportes

Credit: Hunter Desportes

The city of Statesboro, Georgia, is a quarterfinalist in the America's Best Communities competition, Frontier Communications announced Wednesday. Statesboro, best known as the home of Georgia Southern University, is one of 50 communities selected from a pool of over 135 community applicants to advance to the second phase of the contest.

Sponsored by Frontier Communications, DISH, CoBank and The Weather Channel, the three-year competition was launched to catalyze economic revitalization in small towns and cities.

As a quarterfinalist, Statesboro will be awarded $50,000 to implement strategies to strengthen its economy and improve quality of life.

For the competition, Statesboro proposed a streetscape improvement plan that include new crosswalks, signage and greenery, among other items.

In the next six months, the city will further develop its Community Revitalization Plan and compete for additional funding; and will also be assigned a corporate partner that will provide strategic guidance throughout this phase of the competition.

“As the largest telecommunications company focused on rural America, we recognized the need for and the economic impact of new, strategic investments on the revitalization of small towns and communities across rural America,” said Frontier Communications Executive Chairman Maggie Wilderotter in a news release.

If Statesboro is selected as a semifinalist in early 2016, the city will receive an additional $100,000.

The finalists will then be announced in April 2017, and the winning communities will receive up to $3 million.