The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced the promotion of Mark Lavender, a graduate of Elbert County Comprehensive High School, to Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) of the GBI Region 11 Field Office in Athens.

ASAC Lavender will be responsible for the supervision of the special agents assigned to Region 11.

Region 11 serves an 11-county area of northeast Georgia and conducts major investigations to include as use of force investigations, homicide, aggravated assault, rape, child abuse, armed robbery, fraud and other felonies.

Lavender has been employed with the GBI for over 18 years.

Lavender began his career with the GBI working upper-level narcotics cases while assigned to the Gainesville Regional Drug Enforcement Office.

He received advanced training in clandestine methamphetamine lab investigations and was qualified as an expert.

Lavender was assigned to several offices and continued to conduct narcotics investigations in northeast Georgia for over 10 years.

Lavender then transferred to the Major Theft Unit, which is a state-wide task force specializing in commercial cargo theft investigations.

He conducted complex, multi-state investigations and fostered strong working relationships between the Major Theft Unit and task forces and state law enforcement in other states.

Lavender is also a general instructor and specialized instructor.

He began his law enforcement career in 1998 with the Athens-Clarke County Police Department where he was assigned to uniformed patrol.

Lavender received an Associate of Arts Degree in Criminal Justice from Gainesville College in 1996 and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminal Justice from Augusta State University in March 1998.

The Elbert County, Elberton and Bowman Economic Development Authority includes (L-R) Dr. Andrea Daniel, Steve Banks, Greg Gunter, Secretary Tamara Butler, Larry Guest, Randy Smith, Treasurer Kevin Eavenson, Leona Brown and Lee Vaughn. (Photo by Jones)

The renewed Development Authority of Elbert County, Elberton and Bowman came together last week after the county’s and two cities’ appointees joined County Chairman Lee Vaughn and Elberton Mayor Larry Guest at Athens Technical College for a organizational meeting.

At the meeting were the two county appointees, Randy Smith and Steve Banks; two Elberton appointees, Greg Gunter and Dr. Andrea Daniel; and Bowman’s appointee, Leona Brown.

Immediately Gunter was voted chairman of the authority and Daniel was vote as vice chairman.

Elberton Controller Kevin Evanson was elected as the authority’s treasurer and Elbert County Clerk Tamara Butler was named secretary of the authority.

Right away the authority voted to hire consultant The Chason Group at a cost of $22,500 to find the authority’s next economic developer. The Chason Group will be paid half up front and then there will be two more payments, the final one when a developer is hired.

The county and Elberton will each contribute $65,000 to the authority, with Bowman yet to decide how much it will contribute to the authority.

According Elberton City Manager Lanier Dunn, the local development authority is going to have an uphill climb.

“The state is very aware of our situation,” said Dunn. “We are the poster child for what not to do in economic development. We got a long way to go to pick up the pieces.”

Part of the effort to “pick up the pieces” was a resolution signed in May by the Elberton City Council during a city budget meeting in which the council agreed to purchase a 165-acre tract of land adjacent to the industrial development park off Mineral Springs Road.

Guest said Vaughn brought the owner to the city when the owner sought to sell the propertym, and the city paid in excess of $400,000 for the tract.

“It could help us attract industry here because it would be the only tract we have of more than 25 acres,” said Guest.

Daniel, president of Athens Tech, said ATC’s Elberton campus expansion in coming months and years will make the local school one of the top STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) facilities in the state.

“We will have four state-of-the-art labs and we will begin the renovation of another building in late September or October,” said Daniel.

She also said that The Chason Group has the capability of attracting national candidates in its search for a developer.

“I’ve been involved with searches involving Chason and they will recruit outside the State of Georgia to find the right candidate,” said Daniel.

Gunter said he hoped to find a “range” in which to pay a potential developer, and that hiring a developer for a rural county in Georgia is much different than hiring a developer for the Metro Atlanta area.

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The Board of Commissioners considered a rezoning request during this Thursday’s work session. The work session for the month of July was moved up to Tuesday for the Fourth Holiday.

The regular meeting will be next Monday, July 8 at 5:30 p.m. with a hearing at 5:15 p.m. prior to the meeting for requests to rezone for property on Elbert Street, Ruckersville Road and Harley Rucker Road.

The commissioners will also discuss the FY 2020 during Monday night's meeting.

The 2020 has yet to be  finalized or approved by the board. "We are trying to make it balance at this point," said Elbert County Chief Financial Officer Phil Pitts. 

Look for full coverage of Monday's upcoming meeting in the July 10 edition of The Elberton Star. 

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The Elbert County school system is on the verge of being ready when schools re-open Aug. 7, according to system Facilities Director Jon Jarvis.

At an Elbert County School Board work session Monday Jarvis said a lot of summer time projects are going to be completed soon.

A lot of the projects are related to security, with camera systems being installed at Blackwell and Elbert Elementary.  A security wall has been installed at the Elbert County Middle School, and Elbert Elementary had extensive HVAC work over the summer.

Also at the Elbert County Middle School there has been extensive work done on flooring in the school.

When the cameras are completely installed, the cameras will tie into security monitors at the Elbert County EMA and Security Director Shayne Bennett’s office.

The Board of Commissioners voted unanimously after a short closed-door session during Monday night’s meeting to purchase two parcels of land equaling 1.76 acres for $21,200 in order to change the entrance at Porter Drive.

According to County Administrator Bob Thomas, it is cheaper for the county to buy the land in order to move the road than it is to fix a culvert that is in need of repair at the current entrance of Porter Drive.

After holding a hearing before the county’s regular session, the commissioners unanimously approved three rezoning requests including a request to rezone 5.82 acres at 918 Elbert Street from general business to industrial for a truck and body shop.

Also approved was a request to rezone two acres on Ruckersville Road from residential to general business for a proposed dance studio and a request to rezone 365 acres on Harley Rucker Road from agriculture to industrial for an aggregate quarry.

The board also approved a motion granting Thomas permission to request and negotiate for two used vans for the Elbert County Senior Center. The funds for the vans will come from the 2017 SPLOST and the budget allocated for the Senior Center.

The county has scheduled a budget hearing on July 18 at noon during which they hope to approve the final budget for the 2020 fiscal year.

Chief Financial Officer Phil Pitts told the commissioners during their work session that he is “trying to make it balance at this point.”

After calculating a deficit of around $200,000 at the end of the 2019 fiscal year, Pitts said he wants to “study this thing [budget] very carefully before bringing the final numbers for review.”

Pitts attributed the deficit in last fiscal year’s budget to a rollback in the millage rate combined with many requests for appeal to property values.

Northern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Parks White said Monday charges by the Elberton Police Department against an Elberton couple of felony possession and manufacture of marijuana where police found more than five pounds of live plants and “finished, bagged marijuana” have been dropped.

White said the police department’s investigation involved a “warrant-less” search at the couple’s residence that led to the charges which would, in court, lead to evidence “suppression issues.”

Charles Alexander Riley, 67, and Terri Poole Riley, 53, of 5 Brookhaven Circle were arrested Sept. 5, 2018 after an Elberton Police Department patrol officer saw an open door and a light on in a small building on the couple’s property.

At 4:15 a.m., Elberton Police Officer Virginia Shelton, after seeing the light and the open door, went to see if there had been a burglary at the location.

“We had about 100 theft cases within a mile of that location,” said Elberton Police Chief Mark Welsh Monday. “What our officer did is about 90 percent of what patrol officers do. She thought there was crime in progress and she was going to the door to see if that was the case.”

Instead, Shelton found “two small plants under fluorescent lighting, marijuana buds hanging to dry and several pieces of buds in the separation phase sitting on a metal wire screen to sift the marijuana buds from the leaves,” according to the police report on the incident. 

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The Elbert County Sheriff’s Office arrested a South Carolina man Friday evening on 19 traffic and drug charges following a car chase on Highway 172 in Bowman.

Mark Steven McGarity, 51, of Anderson, South Carolina was arrested and charged with fleeing or attempting to elude police officers, possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, possession of marijuana-less than one ounce, willful obstruction of law enforcement officers, criminal trespass, possession and use of drug related objects, tampering with evidence, DUI-drugs, driving while license suspended or revoked, missing/defaced/obscured license plate, reckless driving, driving on wrong side of undivided street, failure to maintain lane, driving too fast for conditions/prima facie speed, failure to obey stop sign, passing in a no passing zone, probation violation, operation of unregistered vehicle or vehicle without current license revalidation decal and failure to maintain insurance.

According to Chief Investigator Darren Scarborough, deputies initially attempted to conduct a routine traffic stop after running the license plate on the Chevy truck to find it registered to a Jeep Cherokee .

McGarity then refused to stop, leading to the car chase on Highway 172 in Bowman.

Scarborough said that the chase lasted for about five to seven miles during which McGarity reached speeds of over 100 mph in a 45 mph zone before leading the chase down a dead end dirt road in Bowman, where he then attempted to flee by foot.

“After a short foot pursuit, law enforcement caught the suspect in the woods,” said Scarborough.

Tim Chason of The Chason Group, a consulting firm hired by the Development Authority of Elbert County, Elberton and Bowman, expects to be able to have an economic development director hired by October or November of this year.

Chason, who has worked with the local development authority before, said his firm will work through three phases before recommending a hire ... 1) listening and preparing, 2) casting the net, vetting and 3) interviews and negotiations.

The first two phases will take about  30 days each, said Chason, then the last phase should last between 30 to 60 days.

The goal is to hopefully have three to five candidates identified after the first two phases, said Chason.

In the first phase Chason said that a search committee would be formed and that stakeholders would be interviewed to find out “what success would look like,” and those would be issued in a “Phase One Report.”

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Teachers pre-plan this week, students returning on Aug. 7

Elbert County teachers make a return to the classroom Wednesday, July 31, readying themselves for a return of students when school officially opens on Wednesday, Aug. 7.

Teacher “pre-planning”  week begins with the annual Teacher Appreciation Breakfast at 8 a.m. at the Elbert County Middle School Cafeteria.

The meeting each year is hosted by the Elbert County Chamber of Commerce.

On Monday, Aug. 5, each school in the Elbert County School System will be hosting an Open House.

All of the schools in the system – Paul J. Blackwell Learning Center, Elbert County Primary School, Elbert County Elementary School, Elbert County Middle School and Elbert County Comprehensive High School – will be open from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m.

All Elbert County schools have office hours beginning at 7:15 a.m. through 4 p.m., with the exception of Blackwell, which closes its office at 3:30 p.m. Student hours are 7:45 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. at Blackwell, 7:55 a.m. until 2:55 p.m. at the Elbert Primary, Elbert County Elementary and Elbert County Middle and 7:55 a.m. until 3:03 p.m. at Elbert County Comprehensive High School.

An entire school year calendar and bus schedules for all 34 Elbert County bus routes (and special needs routes) are available on the school system’s website at www.elbert.k12.ga.us.

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University of Georgia student will serve as reporter, media editor

Rose Scoggins has joined the staff at The Elberton Star as Reporter and Media Editor.

Scoggins is a graduate of Franklin County High School and is entering her senior year at the University of Georgia as a journalism major with a minor in history.

She will report on local government meetings, cover feature stories and manage the Star’s social media and website.

“It’s exciting to have someone who was raised in Elbert County and raised in a family of journalism and education,” said Elberton Star Publisher Gary Jones. “She’s energetic, intelligent and she’s going to be a great asset to The Elberton Star. Our readers will benefit from her many talents.”

Scoggins is the daughter of former Elberton Star Editor Shane Scoggins, who is now publisher of the Franklin County Citizen.

She grew up in the Elbert County community and attended Elbert County schools until the Scoggins family made the move to Franklin County before her ninth grade year.

Scoggins said that she is excited to “work in community journalism” with her goal is to keep community journalism alive.

Though Scoggins grew up visiting her dad while he worked at The Elberton Star, she said it wasn’t until she began assisting her father with his assignments in Franklin County that she knew she wanted to pursue community journalism as a career.

“When we moved and I started going to a new school, I wanted to find a way to get involved so I started going to football games and events with my dad to help him take photos,” said Scoggins.

“Once I realized how much I liked seeing my photography run in the newspaper, I started working with the yearbook staff (at FCHS). I knew I enjoyed writing and taking pictures,” she said.

Scoggins said from then on she knew she wanted to pursue journalism as a career.

After graduating from FCHS, Scoggins attended Mercer University and served as the News Editor for Mercer’s student newspaper, The Cluster, before transferring to the University of Georgia.

She is currently working on the photography staff for Pandora Yearbook at the unversity.

“Community journalism is important,” Scoggins added. “I’m excited to come back to the community I was raised in and to be able to not only invest in it, but to also be able to learn from it and to find out what makes it special.”

Scoggins will graduate with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Journalism from the University of Georgia in Dec. of 2020.

Mildred Broadwater (left), who was born in 1918 and celebrated a birthday recently, lives in Virginia and still communicates regularly with her “little brother,” George Gaines, who will be 100 years old at the end of next week. To the right is the late Tootsie Gaines, who married George before he departed for North Africa during World War II. Gaines said both his big sister and wife spoiled him for decades. 

George Gaines, who has been feted arguably more for almost being 100 years old than any other human being in history, said recently that he has told his family he wants a nice, quiet celebration when he hits the century mark.

“I certainly don’t need any more cake,” he says, wincing and shaking his head at the thought of taking one more bite of birthday cake.

After being honored by the Samuel Elbert Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution and the Rotary Club of Elberton (an organization he has belonged to for 60 years) weeks before his actual centennial mark, he told his family that he just wants to spend a nice, quiet evening at home.

Family has always been important to George Gaines. Mother Verlie Mae Gaines raised a family on Edwards Street after her husband, George, died when George Jr. was three years old.

And George says he had the benefit of growing up in a household with his older sister, Mildred Matthews Gaines Broadwater.

“She looked after me, especially when I got to high school,” said Gaines, who still communicates by phone with his sister Mildred, who lives in Virginia. She recently celebrated her 101st birthday.

Gaines’ daughter, Elsa Ann Meyer, said Mildred was as deeply involved in winning World War II as her father.

“She went to a movie, and in one of the trailers they talked about the need for nurses for our soldiers fighting overseas,” said Elsa Ann. “So she volunteered.”

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The City of Elberton discussed an interest for a referendum to allow citizens to vote for Sunday alcohol sales on the Nov. 5 ballot during Monday night’s regular meeting.

Though there was no official motion made by the council, all councilmen agreed to allow City Manager Lanier Dunn to work with City Attorney Steve Jenkins in preparation to finalize the referendum.

“We’re one of the few counties in Georgia that doesn’t have it. The law was passed in 2011, so it’s been 8 years. It has come up in the past but never really moved forward,” stated Dunn.

According to Dunn, the referendum will have two questions to vote on, one to approve Sunday alcohol sales by the drink to be served in restaurants and one to approve Sunday alcohol sales in retail stores.

“One could pass and the other not,” he said.

If approved, all sales would only be allowed between the hours of 12:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. per state law.

Dunn also reported that The Samuel Elbert Hotel ended fiscal year 18-19 with a positive operating income of $32,402 as opposed to last year’s loss of $29,800.

“That’s a swing of $62,202 to the positive in one year,” he wrote in his report. “Most of this is attributed to lower expenses as the sales were similar year-to-year.”

Trent Brock, 17, of 1136 Flagstone Road was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, aggravated battery and possession of a knife during the commission of a felony Friday after an incident where Brock stabbed his victim five times in the back, according to Chief Investigator Darren Scarborough. 

The incident occurred on Flagstone Road sometime between midnight Thursday and 1 a.m. Friday morning. 

The victim was transported to Athens Regional Hospital for treatment. "As of Friday afternoon, he was still in the hospital but was consious and alert," Scarborough said. 

A warrant was taken out for Brock's arrested and he was detained Friday afternoon. Brock is still in custody at Elbert County Detention Center. 

More details to come as they are released. Look for the full story in this week's edition of The Elberton Star.

The Elbert County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a rezoning request filed by North Georgia Capital Investment to rezone 753 acres on William Smith Road (near Richard B. Russell State Park) from agriculture to multi-family residential during Monday’s August meeting. 

The investment group plans to build condominiums and a marina on the property. 

Jeff Grant of North Georgia Capital Investments said during a public hearing held before the meeting that construction for the project won’t begin for at least another two years or more.

“One thing I think is a very important element is trying to get a marina established here in the area,” Grant told the commissioners. “This is a long-term project, it isn’t going to happen overnight.”

Grant assured the commissioners that the investment group would not do anything that wouldn’t make “sense” for the benefit of the community and that all contractors would comply with zoning ordinances and code enforcement. 

The commission also gave its approval on another rezoning request for a 10.75 acre tract on Pearl Mill Road to be rezoned from agriculture to general business for a boat storage facility. 

The board unanimously approved an intergovernmental agreement with the Board of Education for the provision of school resource officers (SRO), which was previously approved by the school board.

According to County Attorney Bill Daughtry, the agreement states each SRO will be paid $45,000 annually which will initially come from the county but will be reimbursed by the school board. 

The Elbert County Sheriff’s Office is in charge of hiring SROs. 

Daughtry commented that it is the same agreement as last year. 

The commissioners unanimously approved a motion to seek bids for six new cardiac monitors/defibrillators for ambulances, which will be funded through SPLOST. 

Commissioners also approved a motion to allow the fire department to research used fire vehicles to replace two reserve tanks that are 39 and 40 years old. Funding will come from insurance premiums funds and SPLOST. 

The board of commissioners met in a closed-door executive session to discuss the purchase of property and litigation for approximately 30 minutes, however no action was taken.

The Anthony Shoals Preservation Group has contributed greatly in the revised Georgia Department of Agriculture’s soil amendment regulations. 

Pam Allgood, leader of the preservation group, said that they submitted so many comments for the revision that the Georgia Department of Agriculture had to spend more time on making the revisions to the amendment. 

Allgood was notified by Jennifer Wren, the Agricultural Inputs Program Director in the Plant Industry Division from the Georgia Department of Agriculture, that Aug. 15 would be the earliest the revised rules would be available. 

“She said they had a lot more interest in this than they thought they would,” Allgood said. “When you go from the original soil amendment code [that] was only a paragraph long...and when we got it to redo, it was 14 pages.”  

Allgood said that even when the revised rules are presented as early as Aug. 15, that the process wouldn’t be over. 

“They have to bring these revisions back out and I think they have to do another comment period,” Allgood said. 

The group was also given an update on the progression of House Bill 545 by Dr. Frank Carl of Savannah Riverkeeper.

Dr. Carl, who was not in attendance at the meeting on Aug. 8, gave Allgood a report on his time at the Georgia Water Coalition Leadership meeting where he was given an update on the bill. 

According to the report handed out at the meeting,  HB 545 “has been sent back to the Senate Ag Committee for more work or maybe to die.” 

Dr. Carl added in the report that he believes “as long as it is alive, it poses an existential threat to the Right to Farm Law,” and that members of the group “must remain vigilant to prevent the passage of HB 545.” 

Allgood also handed out calendars to the group in order “to try and get some information” on odors and other complaints from residents near Broad River Valley Farms. 

Codes on the calendar included SM for smell, H for hear, S for see and O for other on types of incidents to report. 

For reported odors, a one to four scale was also included, with one being “no smell” and four being “can not tolerate.” 

Members were encouraged to record every complaint they had and to share with their surrounding neighbors. 

The next meeting of the Anthony Shoals Preservation Group will be held Sept. 12 at the Elbert County Public Library at 7 p.m.

Trent Brock, 17, of 1136 Flagstone Road was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, aggravated battery and possession of a knife during the commission of a felony in connection with a stabbing incident that occurred at 12:55 a.m. Friday morning. 

According to an incident reported released by the sheriff’s office, the victim was 26-year-old David Bray of a Brewers Mill Road address. 

Chief Investigator Darren Scarborough said that the victim was stabbed at least five times in the back. 

“There have been some conflicting stories, but the suspect [Brock] was arrested on a warrant Friday afternoon.”

Scarborough said that Brock eventually confessed to stabbing Bray, which led to his arrest. 

Deputies responded to Flagstone Road in the early hours Friday morning “in reference to a man lying in the road with possible kidney problems,” according to the report. 

The victim was transported to Athens Regional Hospital following the incident.

Scarborough reported that as of Friday afternoon, the victim was still admitted into the hospital but was “conscious and alert.”

The Seventh Annual Friends Helping Friends Jam Fest & Taste of Elberton will be held Saturday, Aug. 24.

The special fundraiser for Friends Helping Friends will be held at the Recreation Outreach Center at Elberton First Baptist Church from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Georgia House Representative Tom McCall and Katie Archer will auction off cakes. 

Mike and Phyllis Thompson (706-988-0409) will auction off a football (in a display case) signed by Kirby Smart and Mecole Hardman during his last year with the Georgia Bulldogs. 

Bids for the football will be accepted until 7:45 the night of the event.

There will be a Cake Walk and Cake Silent Auction with a large assortment of delicious cakes (and vouchers available), so bring your sweet tooth along with your family and friends. 

An inspirational concert will feature First Baptist Church Praise Team and First United Methodist Church Praise Team. 

While dining at the food court prepared by local restaurants and caterers, enjoy wonderful entertainment provided by local musicians and vocalists. 

Gary Purvis is serving as concert coordinator. 

Elberton Net will video/air the event. 

Donations will be accepted. This event kicks off  2020 FHF Sponsorship Drive. Donations received during this event may count toward 2020 Sponsorship. 

All proceeds benefit Friends Helping Friends Club, Inc., a 501(c)3 charitable organization, serving Elbert County students who face special challenges, providing educational opportunities such as school trips, special events, summer camps, school supplies, sensory motor development equipment and scholarships at no cost to the school system or to the students served. 

All involved with FHF serve as volunteers.

The Elbert County Board of Education agreed unanimously Monday to hire a consulting firm that will determine the need for new facilities within the school district, including a new district office. The consultants, Education Planners LLC, would be paid an amount  “not to exceed $15,000.”

“We have aging buildings in our system,” said BOE Chairman Ben Baker. “Falling Creek (Elbert County Primary School) was built in 1959.”

The “Multi-Year Master Facilities Plan” developed by Education Planners LLC would have goals of improving operational costs, effective utilization of available resources and “improve academic/instructional delivery while reducing operation cost per student,” according to Elbert County School Superintendent Chuck Bell.

In addition to short-range and long-range evaluation of each school district facility and development of facility plans, Education Planners would also facilitate “community conversations” and preparations for the next education special purpose local option sales tax (E-SPLOST), said Bell.

Education Planners would also take into consideration funding methods for building new and more efficient facilities for the school system, said Bell. 

The board tabled a request from Chief Financial Officer Keith Martin for a motion to move general funds “not to exceed $1 million” to cover “over-expenditures” of SPLOST funds in fiscal year 2018-2019.

Martin said he wanted to move the general funds to SPLOST accounts prior to an audit in the spring. He told the board that SPLOST “projects have slowed down” while SPLOST “collections catch up.”

In the past fiscal year the school board built a new track at the Elbert County Middle School, made improvements at the Granite Bowl, paid for HVAC projects at schools and did a lot of paving, according to Martin.

The school board asked that the matter be tabled since the audit wouldn’t occur until spring.

“We can come back later and vote when the board knows exactly what it is we would be voting on,” said Baker.

The school board honored the Elbert County Comprehensive High School Beta Club and the Elbert County Middle School Beta Club after an outstanding competition where both clubs excelled.

The group went to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma earlier this year under the leadership of teacher Angela Scoggins.

Melanie Dye was among the 185 bankers receiving graduation diplomas in May from the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University (LSU) and Morgan Sigman was one of 34 Georgia bankers to graduate in May from the Georgia Banker’s Association’s Georgia Banking School in Athens.

Dye graduated from the LSU three-year program, which provides courses covering all aspects of banking, economics and related subjects. 

Students traveled from 21 states and Mexico to participate in this session.

Sponsored by 15 southern state bankers’ associations in cooperation with the Division of Continuing Education at LSU, the banking school requires attendance on campus for three years, with extensive bank study assignments between sessions. 

The faculty consists of bankers, business and professional leaders and educators from all parts of the U.S.

During their three summer sessions at the Graduate School of Banking, students receive 190 hours of classroom instruction, planned evening study and final examinations at the end of each session.

“We are fortunate to have employees like Melanie at Pinnacle Bank,” said CEO, Jackson McConnell. “Her expertise as AVP-Controller has always been evident and now with her completion of the Graduate School of Banking, she has a new depth of knowledge to further enhance her day to day responsibilities.”

Sigman attended the Georgia Banking School to prepare her as a bank manager to effectively and profitably serve her hometown by developing a thorough understanding of banking practices, regulations and management principles.

During the course of the three-year program, graduates complete an annual one-week residence session at the University of Georgia in Athens as well as home study problems between sessions. 

The banking school provides a well-balanced curriculum featuring UGA faculty members, veteran bankers and other industry experts and banking specialists.

 “Pinnacle Bank prides itself on our exceptional employees,” said CEO, L. Jackson McConnell. “Morgan worked hard for three years and it shows in her daily responsibilities. This school expanded her banking knowledge and we are better for it.” 

Established in 1892, the Georgia Bankers Association is the trade and professional organization representing Georgia’s commercial banks and thrift institutions.