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Shown is a picture of guests of The Northeast Georgian for a Habersham County Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours event on Monday, Aug. 28. The theme was tailgating and everyone came in their best and brightest weekend gear, mostly in red to support the two-time defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs. ZACH TAYLOR/Special
Habersham County is a place where people look you in the eyes, ask how you’re doing and really mean it. Our home is a geographically blessed community nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. A place where the spirit of entrepreneurship still thrives, and everyone here is able to enjoy all four seasons of every year.
Technology has done a lot of great things for our world with healthcare being at the top of the list. However, technology has crumbled the long-standing pillars of most communities across the great state of Georgia and America. We are living in a world where almost anyone can have a pacifier or tractor tire delivered to their door.
Yes, the convenience and speed of having products delivered to any of the seven municipalities or rural road of Habersham County is quite useful. However, the competition to small brick and mortar businesses in our downtowns has been devastating. Fortunately, Habersham County is geographically blessed, and people want to visit our area. But for our local businesses to survive it takes more than just tourist dollars. And for our local businesses to thrive instead of just surviving, it takes our community focusing their buying power locally.
Yes, we all know change is inevitable. But when is it too much? Unfortunately, I think we are sitting on the apex of the tipping point.
There has never been more information circulating than there is today. In everything we hear, see or read we have to remember to ask ourselves; is this real and factual? Each week we produce local news and information from scratch that you can trust under the flag of your local newspaper The Northeast Georgian. We hold up the mirror of facts and let our community get a good look at itself.
Local has never mattered more. And it has never been in more danger. Habersham County, like every other community across America, is under attack. Do we want our community to become only government buildings and non-profits or do we want to have prospering downtowns?
To guide our government, we go to the polls and cast our votes for local, statewide and national candidates. We also have the ability to help our local economy thrive and it’s in our wallets. Our personal spending power is a high-octane tool when focused locally. It allows us to not only protect the small businesses or backbones of our community, it has the capacity to allow them to grow and provide more services, products and opportunities for our workforce.
Our community is under attack. Frankly, all rural communities are under attack. And it is up to each individual community to protect itself or become a memory of the past. Habersham County, the future of our community rest in our hands.
Local Matters. And frankly, it has never mattered more.
Alan NeSmith is the chairman of Community Newspapers Inc.