Up for some good news? Take a look at our local economy.
It’s on a roll. Tourism is booming. Downtown Brunswick is hopping and looking sharp, with new businesses, renovated spaces and lots more foot traffic.
Serious entrepreneurship is happening downtown. And with the College of Coastal Georgia’s Lucas Center for Entrepreneurship off to a roaring start, one can’t help but think there’s much more to come.
Workers remain in short supply, but recent figures suggest that, at long last, the local labor force is beginning to grow. Glynn’s unemployment rate currently stands at 2.5 percent, below Georgia’s 2.9 percent and the nation’s 3.5 percent.
Five more reasons to be bullish on the local economy: Justin Henshaw, Maggie Hughes, James Laurens, Dylan Lukitsch and Olivia Pickering.
Over the past decade, the College of Coastal Georgia has been turning out some monster graduates who are making mighty contributions to our community. Many are nurses and teachers. Justin, Maggie, James, Dylan and Olivia are graduates of CCGA’s School of Business.
Justin Henshaw is an entrepreneur extraordinaire. He started two businesses while attending the College of Coastal Georgia. The first was Island Sound. The second was Coasters, a food truck. Not bad for a kid in college.
Henshaw Companies now consists of Island Sound, four Fuse stores, two Jimmy Johns, two Smoothie Kings, one Salata and the Golden Isles Wedding Association. Mr. Henshaw is also about to roll out his – and Glynn County’s – first tech startup.
Maggie Hughes is the Partnership Manager with the Golden Isles CVB. Maggie is a real people person, poised and quick to smile. She is also grit personified, as folks who watched her play volleyball for the Mariners know well.
James Laurens is Associate Broker for Compass360 Realty, Inc. James knows the Brunswick real estate market inside and out. He has renovated a historic property in downtown Brunswick and has another downtown project in the works. He’s also the Vice President of the Golden Isles Arts and Humanities Association.
Dylan Lukitsch is the Manager of Business Development and Economic Strategy with the Brunswick Downtown Development Authority. Not only is Dylan a top-flight researcher and number cruncher, he has become an expert on local taxation. His thesis for the University of Missouri’s online Master’s Program in Economics is on Georgia’s Local Option Sales Tax. I’ve read his thesis. It’s terrific.
Olivia Pickering is a Customer Finance Analyst with King & Prince Seafood. Olivia is taking her final course this semester and will graduate in December. She’s a sharp and imaginative thinker. A colleague recently told me, “When Olivia makes a class presentation, you’d think you were listening to a seasoned CEO.”
Being a college teacher is an extraordinary privilege. To be able to make a living reading, studying, thinking, writing and talking with people about economics, a subject that becomes more fascinating to me with each passing day, is good fortune beyond belief.
Topping off that good fortune are the marvelous people I cross paths with, the College of Coastal Georgia students who take a class or two of mine.
Whether a student likes or dislikes economics is not important to me. I look for grit and hard work.
Gritty students are a joy to teach. The joy is amplified by seeing the productive things they do after they graduate.
Justin, Maggie, James, Dylan and Olivia are unique individuals with a few things in common. They’re College of Coastal Georgia grads. They’re gritty; there’s not the slightest trace of entitlement in them. And they’re doing great work in our community.
How’s that for good news?
Reg Murphy Center