Local & State Headlines

Albany native to lead EDC special projects

• A homegrown professional fills a post at an Albany agency.

Barbara Rivera Holmes

ALBANY — The search may have been national, but officials with the Albany- Dougherty Economic Development Commission didn’t have reach beyond the local borders to nab their latest staff member.

Albany native Justin Strickland started work Thursday as the EDC’s new director of special projects.

“He has the personality, the business sense, the marketing skills,” said EDC President Tim Martin, president and CEO of the EDC’s parent agency, the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce.

As director of special projects, Strickland will continue the EDC’s focus on the four Rs — retention, research, retail and retirees.

For the time being, Strickland also will keep the EDC’s Web site updated, a responsibility which until recently was that of administrative assistant Allison Orr.

Strickland, a graduate of Albany High School and the University of Georgia, said he was drawn to the EDC position because it allows him the “ability to work to further strengthen the economy of my hometown.”

That Southwest Georgia connection is a plus for the EDC team.

“I think the advantage is that we both are about Albany/Dougherty County,” said EDC Vice President Andrea Schruijer, whose Albany ties also set her apart from other candidates who had interviewed for the vice president’s post. “We want to see it succeed. We’re not going anywhere.”

For now, Strickland will work to “learn the product, learn what we do and find his feet,” Martin said.

Strickland was most recently the marketing officer for Community Capital Bancshares of Albany, for which he did public relations, marketing and advertising for three banks in Georgia and Alabama, including Albany Bank and Trust here.

Professionally, he has earned the Community Bankers Association of Georgia’s Marketer of the Year Award and the Julian Award for a multimedia advertising campaign he designed. Additionally, he is one of Southwest Georgia’s 40 Under 40 Young Professionals of 2007 and a member of the 2006-07 class of Leadership Albany.

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