City of Excellence

The City of Fort Valley was named one of 10 Georgia “Cities of Excellence,” recognized as one of the state’s “best managed and most livable cities.”

“The 10 chosen cities demonstrate how cities make a difference in our quality of life. They maximize their resources to create communities where people can live, work, play and raise families,” said GMa executive director Jim Higdon.

“Georgia’s city leaders provide good government and build strong, dynamic communities,” added Georgia Trend Publisher Neely Young. Georgia Trend is a partner in the 'Cities of Excellence" program.

“Good Management, new ideas, old-fashioned values, job creation, putting business practices in government, a better quality of life, all of these were taken into consideration by the Georgia Municipal Association and Georgia Trend Cities of Excellence panelists.”

Fort Valley was judged by a 12 member panel on issues such as administration, citizen participation, community and economic development, cultural arts, education, fiscal management, infrastructure, intergovernmental cooperation, planning, public safety, recreation and leisure services, social services and technology.

Here is what Georgia Trend had to say in its anouncement issue. Fot Valley's Mayor John Stumbo made the cover of that edition.

Blue Bird Has Landed -- Again

By Ed Lightsey

Anyone who has ever tried to put toothpaste back in the tube can appreciate the difficulty facing Fort Valley officials as they attempted to get bus and RV manufacturer Blue Bird Corporation to return its headquarters to their community after leaving a decade ago for the more populous Macon. True, the move hardly brought Fort Valley to its knees. Only a couple of dozen executives left town. The 1,700 employees in the manufacturing plant stayed put. Still, there was the symbolism of the move.

Blue Bird has had a presence in Fort Valley since its founding here in 1927, and the location of the corporate headquarters gave community leaders a confidence that the company was in for the long haul. The move to Macon was a blow to the town's pride. So luring the executive corps back home was a high priority. Convincing a company to return to a community is the most difficult challenge facing any group of economic developers. But after the corporate headquarters spent eight years absent from the Fort Valley landscape, an opportunity arose.

Mayor John Stumbo learned Blue Bird's Macon lease was about to expire and the landlord was raising the rent, so he gathered local leaders and constructed a plan. The group found an empty bank building they thought ideal for Blue Bird and put private money into its renovation.

More building, less cost and a move back to the company's roots -- Blue Bird was getting a deal it couldn't refuse. It didn't hurt that Stumbo was married to the granddaughter of Blue Bird founder Henry Luce. Although the company had changed hands a few times, Stumbo had a connection with

When Blue Bird announced in 1999 that its headquarters would be returning to downtown Fort Valley, locals were ecstatic. "It sent a signal that the top executives were committed to the plant," says Mayor John Stumbo. "It made a statement that our downtown was vibrant." The presence of Blue Bird corporate offices also gives Fort Valley an international flavor. The company has four plants in three countries and is owned by Henly's Group, a British industrial firm. The company remains closely held; trading on its parent's stock is done only in Great Britain.

Downtown Renewal
Stumbo is hoping a revitalized downtown born of renewed community spirit will stop a slide in population that saw the town of 8,000 lose 5.6 percent of its residents during the last decade. "We are broadening the ownership our people have in government," says Stumbo. Some of that ownership comes from cash investments, as well as volunteerism. In the past four years, more than $400,000 has been raised and invested in downtown development. Only about 12 percent came from government sources; the rest was put up by private citizens. "The current mindset is that small towns are on the decline," says Stumbo. "That's not true here." To emphasize his point, Stumbo shares a few secrets.

"Several local families have come together to start a community foundation with an initial endowment of $1 million," says Stumbo, waving a document carrying a pledge of $500,000 for the effort. "The degree of philanthropy in this town is very impressive." Stumbo says he knows that not every family can cut a check for a half-million dollars. "That's the beautiful other part of the equation," he says. "Volunteers can do just as much."

As an example, Stumbo points to a fountain at the intersection of three major road arteries, a place he calls "our front porch." "We originally planned for a private masonry company to build that fountain," he says. "But our public works employees said, 'We can do that,' and they did." Not only did citizens get an aesthetic addition to downtown, but they also found the ownership Stumbo believes so important. "It is especially touching to see a city worker showing the fountain to his son and telling him, 'I helped build that.'"

Not all ownership is in bricks and mortar. Local churches have begun offering English language classes to the growing Hispanic population, and a number of volunteer task forces are attacking some tough issues like housing, many of which could be helped by well-paying jobs. "We believe more of that is on the way," says Stumbo. Blue Bird, it seems, is eyeing a $30-million expansion that brings another 630 jobs.

Stumbo himself has had quite an impact on his community. The Harvard-educated Kansas native arrived in Fort Valley in 1989 and promptly ran for mayor. He knew no one. "I met the residency requirements for the office by only one week," he says. He finished second in a five-candidate race. He ran again and won in 1996. With his full beard, pin-stripped suit, suspenders, bow tie and a deep, resonant voice, he looks and sounds like a turn-of-the-century Southern rural political boss; that is, until his well-formed and decidedly non-Southern words enter the room. According to city hall employees, Stumbo can often be found in overalls mowing the grass along city rights-of-way. "He will also get in his pickup truck and go get somebody's garbage if the city trucks missed it," says city administrator Martha Harris. In Fort Valley everyone pitches in.

Town And Gown
Few communities in Georgia are so closely associated with an institution of higher learning as is Fort Valley with Fort Valley State University. Like the best of the state's college towns, Fort Valley is using its university as an economic development resource. City and university leaders have placed a public service facility downtown that includes a small-business incubator.

Fort Valley State became the first historically black college or university in the nation to participate in such a program and has been re-funded for the current year with $750,000 from the federal government. For University President Dr. Kofi Lomotey, the campus runs far beyond its traditional borders. "We are a family," says Lomotey. "We have a responsibility to the community."

At first blush, the idea of university putting an upscale restaurant in the downtown area might seem somewhat at odds with the institution's mission. At Fort Valley State, the mission changed and grew when a business faculty and student survey found that locals supported the idea of a fancy new dining spot. With a council of advisors built from the region's restaurant owners, the university has decided to build a fine-dining restaurant one floor above the school's small-business incubator; the restaurant and its operation will become part of the school's curriculum.

Building on previous successes in a cooperative degree program with the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, Fort Valley State is launching a plan to offer degrees in the hospitality industry; the new restaurant, called the University Club, is part of this. Students will receive a baccalaureate degree from FVSU and finish their education at UNLV, one of the nation's leaders in hospitality industry programs.

When Lomotey met with representatives of the nation's hospitality industry at a Las Vegas conference, he found a warm reception. The industry told Lomotey that not only was there a shortage of trained workers and management staff for restaurants and hotels, but the shortage of minority candidates for such jobs was acute. The industry has pledged not only moral support to Fort Valley State's new program, but is offering financial assistance as well.

The town-gown marriage extends into other areas of Fort Valley as well. When community leaders raised concerns about substandard houses along University Drive (the campus gateway), faculty, students and staff joined volunteers from the town to upgrade the residences. Several homes have been renovated and more rehab is planned.

"Traditionally we think of faculties focusing on research, publication and teaching," says Lomotey. "Now we are adding public service to that list, using our skills to assist the community in a collaborative way." More collaboration is coming in a spiritual way. Lomotey says funding has been obtained to open a faith-based support center on campus where students can gather in an interdenominational atmosphere for spiritual counseling. An advisory group of local men and women of the cloth will assist in staffing.

Fort Valley State is the community's second largest employer, after Blue Bird, and is the kind of economic engine that delivers assets far beyond a payroll. The loss of population over the last decade is not a worrisome thing to leaders here. "We are not disheartened by that," says Lomotey. "Other towns around us are growing and that will ultimately benefit us."

Reprinted from Georgia Trend Magazine.