The Civic Roundtable honored Jerome Tucker for some of
the many things he has done for Lowndes County and south Georgia.
And as usual he hit the nail on the head.
“We do have one of the best communities,” Tucker said. “The toughest
part of me standing before you is knowing how much better we could be
if all the little groups would work together.”
He also said:
“I am still blessed to have my dad with me,” Tucker began. “He
always asks me, ‘Where have you been?' and ‘Did you do any good?'
Here are a few good things Jerome Tucker has done recently:
Welcome
Andrea Shuijer Schruijer to a great opportunity as the new Executive
Director of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA)!
For a year I've been asking for a list of jobs attracted by the
Authority. We welcome your marketing expertise so we'll know
the Authority's successes!
We welcome your communications expertise to inform the community
affected by the process of bringing new jobs. VLCIA could publish
its agendas, minutes, and videos of its meetings, events, and
new jobs on its web pages, and facebook, maybe even twitter.
We welcome your stewardship of the Authority's $3 million/year in taxes.
Maybe some
Previously
PSC Chair Lauren McDonald said he wanted Georgia Power to
"come up with options in the next 30 days for expanding the tiny amount of electricity generated from solar power".
Yesterday,
PSC Commissioner Chuck Eaton
said "Solar is great for diversity, independence, research, and business,"
and added that until recently he had discounted solar, but now he had seen it.
And it turns out that Friday
PSC Commissioner Tim Echols
wrote an op-ed saying
It wasn't until I entered the training room of Mage Solar in Dublin
and saw 40 subcontractors in their solar academy that I got it. The
growing solar industry is not just about funky collectors on a roof or
left-leaning environmentalists who hate fossil fuel. It is about skilled
jobs in manufacturing and construction, about economic development in
Georgia, about consumers saving money on their power bill so they can
spend it somewhere else, and about empowering people to essentially
create their own power plant. This could eventually be big.
Valdosta and Lowndes County are not the only places with sunshine
in south Georgia, and Albany and Dougherty County are perhaps
already more organized.
MAGE SOLAR, looking for both customers and installers, is hosting a
program at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Albany Civic Center.
Susanne Fischer Quinn, communications manager for MAGE SOLAR, said there
are just 13 certified installers of solar panels in Georgia.
The opportunity for growth in this area is tremendous, she said.
Tuesday’s program will open with remarks by Jeff Sinyard, chairman
of the Dougherty County Commission, and Albany City Commissioner Roger
Marietta
Then, a panel of representatives from MAGE, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture and the University of Georgia will present information about
solar power in Georgia.
We already did a smaller version of this, but what have we done since?
The Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber is positioning Metro Valdosta as Opportunity
Central with opportunities for business to grow and thrive, career
opportunities for well-educated young professionals and opportunities
for cultural interests and active lifestyles.
Jerome Tucker explained that there are jobs to be developed
in south Georgia for solar power, in
distribution, installation, and related industry.
First Jerome explained how he heard of MAGE SOLAR, and
it's pronounced Mah gay.
He toured their facility and saw that they manufacture the panels
in Dublin, Georgia,
and this was impressive to him, who still has his kerosene lamp.
He was especially impressed with MAGE SOLAR's academy,
which can train everybody from mom and pop operations
to mega installers.
And with this industry there's opportunity for engineers,
there's opportunity for electricians,
there's opportunity for plumbers,
truck drivers,
across the board.
MAGE SOLAR at Lowndes High School, 29 March 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
"the immense possibilities of solar power and its economic benefits for Georgia"
Hey, here's an idea:
Concluding the program will be a highly anticipated Q&A-session which
will provide direct access to industry experts and company officials;
refreshments will be served.
Kudos to MAGE SOLAR for locating in Georgia and then forging ahead
into the sunshine of south Georgia!
PDF and image of the flyer, and PDF and text of the detailed invitation,
are available
on LAKE's website.
"I think we can do better than a generator that burns human waste.
I think we can do better than a private prison
and those are two things that we seem to be excited about
as a community."
Considering how many local farmers and others around here use hispanic
help without inquiring closely as to where they come from, a CCA prison
in Lowndes County would be more than ironic.
Spending state tax dollars to lock people up while cutting funding for
education that would cost less per person doesn't seem like a good idea
to me.
As for wood-sourced biomass,
Rayonier Jesup Mill produces around 78 MW,
which is more than the 40MW biomass plant VLCIA is thinking about starting.
Jesup also got high air and water pollution and high crime.
Meanwhile, Dublin is already hiring for 350 jobs for the MAGE SOLAR manufacturing
plant, while VLCIA's biomass plant would only bring 25 jobs.
Once again you ignore suggestions for clean energy projects
and reiterate the biomass plant and its bag-on-the-side solar plant
as the whole of VLCIA's plan.
Fortunately, I have confidence that such experienced developers as
the VLCIA board can do better than that.
the blog of LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange
“We do have one of the best communities,” Tucker said. “The toughest part of me standing before you is knowing how much better we could be if all the little groups would work together.”
For a year I've been asking for a list of jobs attracted by the
Authority. We welcome your marketing expertise so we'll know
the Authority's successes!
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