Rural Georgia Initiatives Presents: Rural Broadband - Community Success Stories
Join Rural Georgia Initiatives for its second informative webinar on rural broadband in Georgia featuring: Deana Perry, Executive Director of Broadband, Georgia Department of Community Affairs; Amy Stone, AICP, Planning and Development Director, Oglethorpe County; Mayor Steve Ledbetter, PhD, City of Woodbury; and Greg Turton, owner and president, Southern Fiber Worx, Cordele, Crisp County.
What You’ll Learn:
- Gain a better understanding from Deana Perry of the Georgia Broadband Deployment Initiative about its work with communities to secure the assets needed to make rural broadband a reality
- Listen to Amy Stone discuss the public-private partnership that was formed in Oglethorpe County to bring broadband to the community
- Hear Mayor Steve Ledbetter present on how the City of Woodbury utilized its current assets to become its own ISP to serve its citizens
- Learn how Greg Turton formed a small business to tackle the broadband issue in Crisp County
Live Q&A to follow
Speakers:
Deana Perry - Executive Director of Broadband, Georgia Department of Community Affairs
Deana Perry has served as the Executive Director of the Rural Broadband Program at the Department of Community Affairs since its inception in 2018. The mission of this program is to provide planning, deployment, and incentives for broadband services and other emerging communications technologies throughout the state.
Perry came to DCA from the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission, where she spent more than three years working with communities to develop broadband strategy. In this role, she promoted the need to identify broadband assets, drafted policy revisions and identified funding opportunities. Prior to her work at Northwest Georgia Regional Commission, Perry served as an advisor to Parker FiberNet/Appalachian Valley Fiber Network on compliance and building alliances for public private partnerships. From 2010-14, she was the Program Manager with AVFN for a $26 million broadband stimulus grant funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Previously, Perry was Controller for Parker Systems where she directed all financial management functions and provided financial guidance to pursue the company’s growth strategy. She worked with PFN/AVFN and its affiliates for more than 15 years.
Perry holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from Georgia Southern University. Perry and her husband Tim, an attorney in Chattooga County, have one son and reside in Trion.
Amy Stone - AICP, Planning and Development Director, Oglethorpe County
Amy Stone is the acting economic development director for Oglethorpe County, Georgia. She is the president of Plan South Services, a consulting firm providing administrative solutions for local governments. Amy is a 2005 graduate of The University of Georgia with a degree in Landscape Architecture. She is an AICP Certified Planner and a proud member of the American Planning Association, the Georgia Planning Association and the Georgia Association of Zoning Administrators. Amy enjoys writing, sewing, exercising and being outside with her family. Aside from her children, her biggest accomplishment is completing a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail.
Mayor Steve Ledbetter, PhD - City of Woodbury
Steve Ledbetter began his working life career with the U.S. Army as an air traffic controller. Afterwards, he moved home to take on a role in local government. Serving as a police officer in metro Atlanta, he moved through the ranks and took a command staff position. Completing 17 years of government work, he transitioned to an international consulting firm as a project manager building management, consulting, operations, and organizational development experience. Steve now works with Fortune 500 companies to deliver significant business performance improvement in the Aerospace Defense, Oil & Gas, and Government sectors through implementation of complex results-focused programs.
In November 2017, Steve was elected as Mayor of the City of Woodbury. When he took office, the city was struggling financially. They had old equipment, outdated processes, and had not increased employee pay for several years. Their most recent annual audit reports the city completed its second year without the need for a Tax Anticipation Loan. Additionally, they have reduced their mileage rate to a 15-year low, given employees a 22.5% raise over the last three years (2018, 2019, and 2020), and remained within budget while investing in new software and computer systems, new police cars, and new public works vehicles.
Greg Turton - Owner and President, Southern Fiber Worx, Cordele, Crisp County
Greg Turton lives in Cordele, Georgia, a rural/agricultural community of 19,000 that is located 150 miles south of Atlanta. Greg is an Auburn graduate, a general aviation pilot, an entrepreneur, an inventor and hotel developer. He started Arctic Air, which manufactures air conditioners for the aviation industry. He has built and managed three Hampton Inns, including one in Birmingham, Alabama, and one in Frisco, Texas. The Hilton Corporation recently awarded his hotel in Tifton, Georgia, as the #1 Hampton Inn and Suites.
Turton started a “do it yourself Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) company” in 2015 by watching online videos from the Fiber Optic Association (FOA) and receiving guidance and training from FOA President Jim Hayes, Ditch Witch of Georgia and Adtran. His company, Southern FiberWorx, is the first Gigabit ISP in south Georgia. In five years, he and his team of six have built 150 miles of underground fiber that connects service to over 850 businesses and homes - including the connection he shares with his wife and three happy teenagers.
The Rural Georgia Initiatives Team
The Rural Georgia Initiatives division helps communities become more competitive for economic development projects and identifies new strategies for attracting jobs and investment. This division works diligently to advance these strategies, thereby improving the quality of life for those residing in Georgia’s rural communities.