Comments from the Chairman

JANA DYKE

ALBANY-DOUGHERTY ECONOMINC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION, PRESIDENT & CEO

Laqurica Gaskins said. "Yes, we were hampered by the restrictions that COVID brought, but we didn't just sit on the sidelines. We have continued to talk with developers looking to bring what we hope are 'good fits' to the downtown district.

"We saw two new businesses — Kingscorn and the Broken Heart Bakery — open in the last few months, and we have two new businesses that we expect to launch in the coming weeks. It's a new world, and we're prepared to pivot with whatever changes take place."

Jana Dyke, president and CEO of the Albany-Dougherty Economic Development Commission, recently helped organize a groundbreaking for a new east Albany business cluster recently. She said the pandemic has made presence on new social media even more important than ever.

"We, of course, will focus on industrial development, but I think even we have realized that there has to be a shift of focus to also support businesses that are already here and to small businesses that are not heavy industry," Dyke said. "We have to find that great entrepreneurial spirit in our community. ... Look at what Bo Henry has done. He's knocked it out of the park. We have to find more Bo Henrys.

"Site visits are part of the life blood of economic development, and we have to now provide on our website and on our social media a virtual site visit that shows developers what we have to offer. Businesses know now what they're looking for when they get ready to move on a site. We have to show them that we're prepared to add the other things they need when they get here."

A crucial factor, Holmes notes, is that good old American know-how.

"Yes, the pandemic was hard on business," the Chamber president said. "But Procter & Gamble's (in Albany) production has increased 20 percent since the pandemic and they've added significant new permanent jobs. Sunnyland Farms has had a serious uptick in online of their products. Pretoria Fields began making hand sanitizer that is now used in state government offices. Negative impact? Absolutely. We all felt it. The data have yet to show long-term economic and demographic impacts. But we also experienced incredible business innovation, courage and support. I saw businesses protect against a future supply chain breakdown. These businesses didn't rely on someone else. It was the resilience that helped these — and other — businesses persevere and even grow. That's one of the great stories of the pandemic."

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