At the August 12, 2026, meeting of the Glennville Rotary Club, Lynn Ashcraft, Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Region 9 Manager, explained to the Glennville Rotarians the many services available through her office. These include services for new and expanding current businesses, cities, counties, development authorities, and other local entities. Tattnall County is one of 17 counties in Region 9.

"While trying to attract new businesses, remember to foster your businesses already in place in your community and how they can be assisted to expand their facilities or their products or services. Local development authorities and local officials need to look at your downtown area, and how you can assist your business owners who are already in your market," encouraged Ashcraft.

"Remember, those who are already in place saw the potential to invest in a building and/or inventory in your city, and maybe you can help them in some way as an impetus to stay and grow," said Ashcraft.

"Housing development has been one of the areas that many cities and development authorities have sought assistance and guidance in the past few years, and our agency can help you in this planning and advisement phase, in addition to possible low interest financing," she added, mentioning that this has often been through the OneGeorgia Authority in rural workplace housing development.

"Young couples who are starting out are looking for homes in the $125,000 to $290,000 price range. These couples, usually in their 20s, are just entering the workforce and often have no money for a down payment, and this assistance is possible for first-time home buyers," she said, referring to the Georgia Dream opportunity with bank loans as low as three percent.

DCA also offers leadership development through the Georgia Academy for Economic Development, which is a superb learning opportunity for local leaders and elected officials. These workshops teach basic essentials and how entities can work together more effectively on projects.

There are also modules for learning about AI, housing, and certain other specific areas. Many of these informative one-day workshops in this area can be attended for $200 or less, usually.

For those interested in attending one of these workshops or finding more information, you are encouraged to contact Lynn Ashcraft at 478-484-0321 or by email at region9@dca.ga.gov. A Guide to Services FY 2027 from the Georgia Dept. of Community Affairs is also available at the Glennville office of The Journal Sentinel, 105 W. Barnard Street, Glennville, GA 30427