A glimpse into the well-being of Columbia County’s educational and business sectors was among the highlights of the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce’s 12th annual State of the Community Address Thursday at the Columbia County Performing Arts Center.
“It’s an opportunity for the Chamber to really showcase everything that’s going on here in our community,” said Chamber president Russell Lahodny. “There’s so much going on behind the scenes most people don’t even understand. It’s an opportunity to dive deeper into all the other little mechanisms that make up the bigger clockwork.”
In its 12th year, the event featured a series of presentations about the current progress of the county from the perspective of the school district, Fort Gordon and county administration.
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After an invocation by Warren Baptist Grovetown pastor Joseph Humphreys, and Chamber chairman Jordan Pierce leading in the Pledge of Allegiance, School Superintendent Steven Flynt offered the audience an update on graduation rates (92.3% in 2021), the number of students coming into the growing district (nearly 30,000) and average SAT scores (1118, the 16th highest in the state).
“We are in the top 10% in the state of Georgia in our scores on this end of course summative assessment,” Flynt said, referring to the school system’s yearly comprehensive evaluation of student grades at the end of each school year, compared with other education districts. “We’re going to continue to push because we can improve, not just here in the state of Georgia, but we’re going to benchmark ourselves against districts across the nation, and we’re going to continue to engage our teachers to engage our employees to make that happen.”
Flynt also brought locals up to speed on the school district’s Cyber K-12 Learning initiative, which entails incorporating cyber-oriented skills such as online safety and etiquette, algorithmic thinking and communication and networking, into the curriculum across grade levels.
Col. Reggie Evans, Garrison Commander at Fort Gordon, dovetailed his own speech with Flynt’s, emphasizing the importance of early cyber-focused education.
“If we don’t start training our young people earlier sooner, we’ll have a gap 10 to 15 years from now, and we’ll lose that edge,” said Evans about maintaining an advantage in technology and skill over U.S. adversaries.
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County manager Scott Johnson touted Columbia County’s accomplishments, calling its current state “exceptional.”
Among the highlights Johnson mentioned were that about 2.4 million people visited county parks this year, as well as the quality condition of the parks; the lowest millage rate since 1989; receiving “AAA” rating—the highest scores—from major credit rating agencies Moody’s, S&P Global and Fitch Group; and the growth of business.
Johnson noted that the county issues over 100 commercial permits in 2020, 121 in 2021, and over 70 this year.
“What that means is we’re continuing to add industry; we’re continuing to add business,” he said. “People are continuing to see what Columbia County has to offer, and they want to be a part of this community. Not just live here, they will do business here as well.”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
