Business View Civil and Municipal | April/May 2022

70 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 3 N estled in Southeast Georgia, scenic Statesboro is Bulloch County’s largest city and its county seat. Founded in 1803, it was a community known for selling goods to the surrounding cotton plantations. Later, in 1928, musician Blind Willie McTell recorded his now iconic Statesboro Blues, singing, “Hand me my travelin’ shoes…I’ve got them Statesboro blues.” Today, the city has a population of 33,438 and is the proud home of Georgia Southern University’s main campus. Chosen as one of the top three communities in America’s Best Communities competition in 2017, great things are on the horizon for the City of Statesboro. “As a college town, Georgia Southern University affects almost everything we do,” states Benjy Thompson, CEO of the Development Authority of Bulloch County. “Both the Mayor and I are Georgia Southern alumni, and now there’s even more people like us becoming involved with community leadership.” Mayor Jonathan McCollar agrees that the university helps Statesboro stand out from other cities, but for him personally, it’s the people that make it a special place. He shares, “We’re a city of residents who rally around to help those in need. During COVID, we supported the economically vulnerable by working with non- profits like Feed the Boro to distribute food and organizing the AT A GLANCE STATESBORO, GEORGIA WHAT: A charming ‘college town’; home of Georgia Southern University WHERE: Bulloch County in southeast Georgia WEBSITE: www.statesboroga.gov https://borobluemile.com/ orgia Vibrant & Welcoming