Business View Civil Municipal - Sept 2023

57 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 9 FI TZGERALD, GEORGIA million-dollar investments in critical infrastructure. Currently Fitzgerald Utilities is expanding a community owned processed water treatment system that is partially funded by ARPA funds. Couple this with the recent announcement of a 50-acre GRAD (Georgia Ready for Accelerated Development) site and the community is poised to handle additional industrial growth. Residential and business development Dunn acknowledges that Fitzgerald is experiencing the same housing struggles as the rest of the nation. “Right now,” he points out, “supply is limited. We are working on a housing plan in partnership with Georgia Tech’s Center for Economic Research and hope to be able to pursue some of the Georgia Rural Housing Initiative funds that will be available in the near future.” Dunn also points out that the City is working in partnership with the University of Georgia at Athens (“Go, Dawgs!”). How? It’s the PROPEL program. The acronym stands for “planning rural opportunities for prosperity and economic leadership.” “We’ve identified four focal points to do some strategic planning and economic development,” says Dunn, “and those are leadership, internal marketing, entrepreneurship, and corridor revitalization. “With the corridor revitalization, we’re looking at opportunities at revitalizing some commercial properties on the Sherman and Grant Streets corridors. What we plan on doing is creating some new opportunities through the revitalization of some real estate and then also through some entrepreneurial efforts we are moving forward with.” One of those opportunities is FLEX. This stands for “foundational leadership and entrepreneurial experience.” FLEX is a collaboration between our Chamber of Commerce, College and Career Academy, and Development Authority assisting high school students to help them start their own businesses, as Dunn informs. This effort has now evolved into what officials are calling the Georgia FLEX program, which is