Business View Magazine - October 2018

160 161 Georgia COLUMBIA COUNTY, A HIDDEN GEM C olumbia County, Georgia, is located on Clarks Hill Lake in the eastern part of the state, just west of the City of Augusta. It is a thriving community and, currently, one of the fastest-growing counties in the United States, with a population near- ing 150,000. Major news outlets have called Columbia County one of the best places to live, especially for those with young families. It boasts rising incomes, a high homeownership rate, and high educational attainment levels. It is also home to renowned companies and institutions like John Deere, Serta, TaxSlayer, and Club Car. This area along the Savannah River had been inhabited for thousands of years by var- ious cultures of indigenous peoples, including the Muscogee-speaking Creek; the Yuchi; and the Iroquoian-speaking Cherokee for years prior to European colonization. During the Colonial era, settlement of what would become Columbia County occurred primarily due AT A GLANCE COLUMBIA COUNTY, GEORGIA WHAT: A county of 150,000 WHERE: Eastern Georgia, near the South Carolina border WEBSITE: www.columbiacountyga.gov