 Greetings
everyone,
Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and happy
New Year. Already, this year is off to a great start. The
2007 Georgia General Assembly session began yesterday at 10
am and we would like to congratulate Senate President
Pro- Tem Eric Johnson on his re-election.
We would also like to offer our congratulations to
House Speaker Glenn Richardson and Speaker Pro Tempore Mark Burkhalter,
who were also re-elected.
Eggs and Issues
Today, Governor Sonny Perdue spoke at the annual
Eggs and Issues breakfast sponsored by the
Georgia Chamber of
Commerce, and previewed some of his upcoming budget
priorities - continuing to improve education and meeting the
needs of a growing and prosperous state. Kudos to Governor
Perdue for his acknowledgement of the importance of
international marketing. Georgia has the resources to
compete on a global stage, and this increase of $5.1 million
will help tell the Georgia story more effectively. We can
increase tourism, help Georgia companies grow their business
through exporting their products and and showcase our state
as a good place to do business.
From the governor's press release:
Governor Perdue noted the Georgia's increasing graduation
rates during his administration and challenged each local
community to set and meet local graduation goals and look
for innovative ways to encourage improved performance. As an
example, he pointed to Senator Tommie Williams who donated
$1,000 to Montgomery County High School to establish a
"perfect attendance" lottery.
"In the year 2020, next year's Kindergarten class will be
seniors in high school. And I want to see 100 percent of
that class walk across the stage in front of friends and
family with diploma in hand," said Governor Sonny Perdue.
"That is our challenge. That is our call to action."
Governor Perdue also noted that the state's growth has
created infrastructure and transportation needs. To meet
those needs the Governor announced that this year's budget
asks for $2.3 billion for transportation – double the
spending from the Governor's first budget. The budget also
includes record spending for Paving the Way Home and
continues to fund Fast Forward.
In addition, Governor Perdue introduced a new
international initiative Global Georgia. He said that his
new budget would invest an additional $5.1 million to help
open the door to the world for Georgia companies. Already
more than 10,000 Georgia companies export, and almost 75
percent of Georgia's counties have companies involved in
international trade. Total exports from Georgia across the
globe increased by $5.9 billion in 5 years. Under Governor
Perdue's initiative Georgia will add new international
offices in China and India, bringing the total number of
international offices to 12.
"I have a long-term vision for Georgia," said Governor
Perdue. "Improving our schools, our roads, developing our
international presence – we must view these challenges as
opportunities to make a long-lasting improvement in our
state."
###
Please click
here to read the address in its entirety and please
click
here to review the Eggs and Issues PowerPoint
presentation (Adobe
Reader required).
Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle also expressed his
commitment to economic development. He promised to be our
number one job recruiter in the state of Georgia.
Lt. Gov. Cagle was a great champion for tourism in the
Georgia Senate and we look forward to working with him in
his new role as our lieutenant governor.
Speaker Glenn Richardson was articulate and quick
witted as usual. He focused his comments on the
accomplishments of the House as a team and expressed his
commitment to continue to look at solutions before drafting
legislation to solve every problem.
Leadership is critical for Georgia's future, and we
appreciate the commitment all three of these gentlemen have
shown to do what is best for all Georgians.
State Tourism Issues 2007
Tourism
Development Alliance of Georgia's primary focus for 2007 will be funding for tourism
promotion at the local and the state levels. We will
continue to work to preserve the hotel tax for its original
intent of tourism promotion and encourage an adequate
investment in tourism marketing for the Tourism Division of
the
Georgia Department of Economic
Development. We need you to let your elected officials
know that these issues are important to you. We want Georgia to remain
competitive and we will forward additional information to
you all in the coming weeks.
Our New Website!
 Our
new website launched yesterday, and many thanks to
SpunLogic for their
fantastic work. Please click
here
or on the image to the left to view it. If you have
comments or suggestions, please send them to
me as we
will continue to update our new site.
Congratulations!
 While
we want to congratulate all of Governor Perdue's new
staff appointments, we want to send out special kudos to
Bert Brantley, the Governor's new press secretary.
Brantley has served as the communications manager for the
GDEcD since June 2005. Prior to that appointment,
Brantley completed six years in the communications office at
the Georgia Department
of Transportation, serving the last five as media
relations coordinator. A native of Valdosta, Ga., Brantley
earned a bachelor's degree in journalism with a minor in
political science from the University of Georgia, as well as
a master's degree in public administration from UGA. He and
his wife, Tonya, have two children and reside in McDonough,
Ga.
Also appointed were Shane Hix, director of external
affairs; Chad Holland, director of legislative affairs;
Sydne Moody, legislative affairs liaison to the State
House; Rebecca Greener, legislative affairs liaison
to the State Senate; and Frances Gatewood, executive
appointments liaison.
The Georgia Association
of Convention & Visitor Bureaus' search committee has
tapped Julie Musselman as the incoming Executive
Director for GACVB. After considerable deliberation, Julie
was chosen because of her ability to lead the Association
with her business sense and commitment to the hospitality
industry.
Julie's degree in association management brings a different
perspective to GACVB. The search committee felt that it
needed someone who got out of bed everyday thinking about
GACVB and its members and how to really make a difference.
Part of that decision was made on the experience and routine
that Brenda Price brought to GACVB fours years ago.
The goal was to build on that work and continue to raise the
standard and exceed the expectation of the membership.
In this newsletter you will also find
important information regarding Tourism Day
at the Capitol, more information on
our new website,
the Governor's "State of the Future"
Address, legislative updates,
upcoming
tourism events across the state and
tourism headlines from
all over Georgia. Registration deadlines and events under
Legislative Updates and
Upcoming Tourism Events are quickly
coming up, so make sure you check those out. Please take time to peruse the information
in the right column.
TDAG wants to continue updating you on all the great
tourism news that is happening in Georgia. As always, we welcome your input and your ideas. Please let us know if you have
any
questions. Thanks for your commitment to Georgia and for
your support of the Tourism Alliance.
Best Regards,
Joy Spears Walstrum
Tourism
Development Alliance of Georgia
404-223-2471 (w)
404-358-5634 (m)
404-223-2290 (fax)
joy@tourismdevelopmentalliance.org |
