Let’s Talk Valdosta, A City of Valdosta Podcast

Let's Talk Valdosta with Councilmembers Eric Howard and Andy Gibbs - Council Summit Recap Part 3/Final

Mayor Scott James Matheson and the Valdosta City Council held their Annual Strategic Initiatives Summit (SIS) on March 19th and 20th at the Woman's Building in Valdosta. The retreat was moderated by the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government. During the Summit, the Mayor and Council received departmental reports from city staff and reports from executive directors of the Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce and the Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority.

These presentations allowed the Mayor and Council to get updates on projects within the City limits and throughout Lowndes County. It provided the Mayor and Council an opportunity to ask specific questions needed to help them craft their goals and objectives for the year.

Hear from District 4 Councilmember Eric Howard and District 6 Councilmember Andy Gibbs on their takeaways from the weekend

Let's Talk Valdosta with City Manager Mark Barber - Council Summit Recap Part 2

Mayor Scott James Matheson and the Valdosta City Council held their Annual Strategic Initiatives Summit (SIS) on March 19th and 20th at the Woman's Building in Valdosta. The retreat was moderated by the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government. During the Summit, the Mayor and Council received departmental reports from city staff and reports from executive directors of the Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce and the Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority.

These presentations allowed the Mayor and Council to get updates on projects within the City limits and throughout Lowndes County. It provided the Mayor and Council an opportunity to ask specific questions needed to help them craft their goals and objectives for the year.

Hear from City Manager Mark Barber on his takeaways from the weekend

Let’s Talk Valdosta with Mayor Matheson - Council Summit Recap Part 1

Mayor Scott James Matheson and the Valdosta City Council held their Annual Strategic Initiatives Summit (SIS) on March 19th and 20th at the Woman's Building in Valdosta. The retreat was moderated by the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government. During the Summit, the Mayor and Council received departmental reports from city staff and reports from executive directors of the Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce and the Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority.

These presentations allowed the Mayor and Council to get updates on projects within the City limits and throughout Lowndes County. It provided the Mayor and Council an opportunity to ask specific questions needed to help them craft their goals and objectives for the year.

Hear from Mayor Matheson on his takeaways from the weekend. 

 

Let's Talk Valdosta with Valdosta Main Street

Downtown Valdosta is the home to an estimated 800 businesses with approximately 8,200 jobs, representing 20% of the city’s total jobs. The average downtown business has 10 jobs per establishment. A lot of effort goes in behind the scenes to keep the heart of our city more vibrant than ever! It is all done by a two-person team with Main Street Director Ellen Hill and Main Street Program Coordinator Rachel Thrasher. In 2020 we welcomed 5 new businesses that brought approximately 32 new jobs and $400,000 of investment to our downtown. While the shutdown was not an ideal situation to be in for restaurants and retail businesses, many of the downtown merchants decided to rise to the challenge of reinventing their business models to fit with the restrictions and were successful.  In this episode, we cover the latest updates from Valdosta Main Street and what's to come in 2021.